Kayla Yraceburu had charted a straight forward college plan.
Her nine years of competitive swimming and her focus on distance freestyle events would appeal to a swim coach at a college where she could study nursing while continuing to race.
So, of course, Yraceburu will attend a university that doesn’t have a swimming pool.
The change in direction for the Camas High School senior happened in a hurry. She decided after the high school swim season ended in November to take a break from the pool. To stay in shape, she started rowing with Vancouver Lake Crew, a program her brother Jake and older sister Jessica had enjoyed.
Barely six months later, rowing has sent Yraceburu on a new path. She has accepted a “very generous scholarship” to row for Oklahoma City University.
Before she takes her talents to Oklahoma City, Yraceburu will race for Vancouver Lake Crew in the women’s varsity single at the U.S. Rowing Northwest Regional Junior Championships, which take place Friday through Sunday on Vancouver Lake. She will be hoping to qualify for the national championships.
“She is a very self-motivated athlete,” VLC juniors coach Alan Stewart said. “She has a great work ethic, and it’s paid off for her.”
Yraceburu also has the height and strength that college crew coaches covet. When they saw her dry-land training times, rowing coaches started courting her.
“When colleges started looking at me for (rowing) scholarships, it was a little bit overwhelming,” Yraceburu said. “Crew closed and opened a lot of doors at the same time.”
Vancouver Lake Crew has been opening doors and teaching life lessons for Clark County athletes since 2002, when Bill Kalenius spearheaded formation of the club. Kalenius died from cancer in 2009, but his legacy lives on in the young athletes who find direction on the lake.
Of the 38 high school students from across the county in the program this spring, 32 are scheduled to compete in this weekend’s regionals. For Daniel Mudge and Dustin Crossman, it is the culmination of six years with VLC.
“I hate to think about it too much,” Mudge said about his time as a high school rower for VLC ending this week. “You want closure, and to finish off racing well.
“But I am really excited and looking forward to sharing the experience with all of my teammates.”
Mudge and Crossman both joined Vancouver Lake Crew as middle school students and both plan to continue competitive rowing in college, Mudge at Seattle Pacific and Crossman at Washington State.
In addition to the friendships, Mudge mentioned a winter row on a mostly frozen Vancouver Lake as one of his favorite memories. Crossman listed the serenity of sunrise rowing among his favorite memories.
Like Yraceburu, Sarah Wu planned to compete in college in a different sport. A high-level gymnast for many years, her goal was to earn a college scholarship in that sport.
Also like Yraceburu, Wu had family members involved with Vancouver Lake Crew and turned to rowing for a change of pace.
Unlike Yraceburu, Wu is too small to row competitively in college. She plans to stick in the sport as a coxswain while attending Washington State. Essentially the captain of the boat, a coxswain is responsible for steering and coaching a team through a race.
Wu enjoyed the intensity and individual focus needed in gymnastics, but describes the togetherness of Vancouver Lake Crew as special.
“In crew you need to trust everyone else in the boat,” Wu said. “You all have the same goal, which is to go fast.”
Yraceburu’s background as a competitive swimmer transferred well to rowing, where hours of dryland conditioning work are necessary for high-level performance on the water.
Yraceburu said that keeping the boat balanced — she’s fallen into the lake three times — and on a straight path while looking over her shoulder have proved to be the most challenging skills to master.
And she still cannot completely fathom the turn her life took on Vancouver Lake.
“Six months ago, swimming in college was my plan,” Yraceburu said. “I would have laughed in your face if you had told me I would be going to college on a rowing scholarship.”
