Kate Kelly, a rower from Vashon has picked up a high honor: She’s been named US Rowing’s 2024 U23 Female Athlete of the Year.

More accolades and victories are coming Kelly’s way — sometimes by a margin no thicker than a piece of paper.

Saint Catharines is Canada’s premier rowing course and is tucked into the southern shore of Lake Ontario about 15 miles west of Niagara Falls. This summer, the venue hosted the U23 World Rowing Championships, for competitors under 23 years of age.

August 5 saw the heats for the women’s eight event. In the first heat, two boats pounded towards the finish line. Matching stroke by stroke, meter by meter and ultimately millimeter by millimeter, the shells crossed the finish line to a single blast of the air horn.

It was going to be a close call. In the seventh seat of the American eight, Vashon’s Kate Kelly was eager to find out who had won. Glancing at the stands, she saw her parents Kji and Rebecca screaming along with the rest of the U.S. contingent. But then again, the Australian fans were screaming, too.

Finally, an announcement — the U.S. had won.

Elation!

Then a reversal: No, the Australians had won. Bummer.

And then a final reversal — the US had won — by a length about the thickness of a piece of notebook paper.

The result meant an automatic berth in the finals to be held four days later. Because national team boats don’t get much time to train together, those four days were valuable and, in particular, translated to a faster, crisper start for the U.S. boat in the final.

In that final, the U.S. trailed Great Britain and Germany at about 1,500 meters, but rowed through Germany to capture the silver medal. Another remarkable success story for our storied junior island rowers.

But last week an even bigger accolade came Kelly’s way: she was named U.S. Rowing’s 2024 U23 Female Athlete of the Year.

In an interview with U.S. Rowing, Kelly said: “I want to thank the people around me for making such a tremendous impact on who I am, both as an athlete and as a person. Thank you to my college coaches, Kevin Sauer and Kelsie Chaudoin, and my high school coach Richard Parr for always believing in my ability. Thank you to my national team coaches Sarah Trowbridge, Asiya Mahmud, and John Graves for continuing to push me to be my best at an international level. Additionally, thank you to my younger brother, Davis Kelly for always pushing me to be a better person and athlete, and for being someone who I always strive to be a role model for, and my family for always believing in me and giving me the support to row at such a high level.”

Asked to explain Vashon’s extraordinary success on the international rowing stage, Kelly replied: “For me I think it was Richard Parr’s taking us to row in New Zealand in high school. That country is perennially at the top of international rowing scene and to see that we could compete opened my eyes to what was possible. My brother, Davis, similarly got to row in China with the Burton Beach program.”

It also doesn’t hurt that Vashon is blessed with water that is protected from the prevailing southerly wind and thus can be rowed about 90% of the time. And unlike venues in the northeast, it is ice free year-round.

Time on the water is a huge predictor of success for young rowers. Participation in junior rowing on Vashon is at an all-time high this year, with more than 60 middle and high school students out on the water each week.

For the last four years, Kelly has attended the University of Virginia (UVa) majoring in chemistry. The UVa rowing program is Division 1 and competes in the ACC conference. This spring, her collegiate women’s eight placed 13th in the NCAA championships.

Kelly is now continuing at UVa to pursue a master’s degree in Commerce specializing in Biochemistry. One of the challenges at the U23 championships this year was that they overlapped with the start of her master’s program. She had to row during the day and attend on-line courses and study at night.

Currently, Kelly is enjoying a few weeks off from rowing.

“This is the first break I’ve had in about four years,” she said.

She regularly talks with Olympian Jacob Plihal, who she describes as a mentor and inspiration; they train together when they are both on Vashon. She has also joined the coaching ranks focusing on novices and walk-ons to the UVa program.

“Coaching gives such a different perspective on the sport,” she said. “The enthusiasm of the novices is contagious and their joy at just being on the water is a great reminder as to why I love this sport so much.”

Later this month, Kelly will join thousands of rowers at Head of the Charles in Boston. Because she’ll “age out” of the U23 category, she plans to compete for a spot on the U.S. National team next year.

There she goes — another Vashon junior alum with rowing in her blood.

Pat Call is a parent of two former junior rowers and a masters rower.