Kaup commits

Joelle Kaup will be following in the footsteps of a couple of Indians.

Kaup, a senior at Fort Recovery High School, signed her national letter of intent to join the women’s rowing team at Ohio State University on March 25.

She’s following a similar path as her older sister, Rachel Kaup, who rowed at Duquesne University. She also directly follows former FRHS swim and track team Paige Guggenbiller, who joined the Buckeyes at the start of the school year and played a major role in convincing Kaup to join.

“I’m very very excited,” Kaup said. “Paige, all my love goes out to her. She’s the one who probably gave me the entire opportunity. When they told me they wanted me to have a spot, they said ‘Paige talked really good about you.’ So I owe everything to her and I’m extremely thankful for her. And I’m really excited to be a part of their team, they are an amazing team.”

In her freshman year at OSU, Guggenbiller made it onto the third varsity boat according to both Kaup and Fort Recovery swim coach Mindy Bubp.

Originally, Kaup was looking to make her way south to Alabama and study marine biology at Auburn University. After further evaluation, she decided it wasn’t in the cards to attend Auburn, she looked to in-state options.

That’s when she considered the rowing team at Ohio State. After reconnecting with her former teammate and checking out her social media, she decided to fill out the questionnaire for the team to show interest.

“I’ve seen how well she’s gotten along with the team,” Kaup said. She automatically got a huge group of friends and they get along so well. Her muscles are absolutely massive and I’d love to have that. … I’d love to be on a team with her again. We’ve been on swim and track teams for a very long time and I’ve looked up to her for a long time.”

After filling out the questionnaire, Kaup was contacted by assistant coach Michaela Nordhaus. The two called a couple of times, leading to a visit, in which Kaup was blown away by the facilities.

Between the team culture, the prospect to rejoin Guggenbiller, the quality of the facilities and the school fit, she decided to commit to the Buckeyes. She currently plans to be a communications major.

Kaup would not immediately receive an athletic scholarship from OSU, but can earn one by working her way onto one of the varsity boats. 

Similarly to Guggenbiller, her time as an Indian — Kaup ran cross country and track and swam at FRHS — may set her up to make an impact early in her career. In her high school athletic career, Kaup has already ran at the state cross country meet and led this year’s team to the regional, made the district meet for swim in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke and ran as part of the 4x800-meter relay team at the track regional.

“She’s been a very successful high school athlete,” Bubp said. “Three sports is a difficult task … I think she knows the hard work that’s going to be involved. She definitely has the work ethic and knows what it takes to be successful in multiple sports, so hopefully that will translate to a new sport.”

While it will take some work, Kaup is excited for the opportunity she has ahead of her. After making the trip to Columbus on Saturday and watching the 2025 Big Ten and ACC Double Dual between Ohio State, Michigan, Virginia and Oklahoma, Kaup is fired up and ready to dive in.

“I’m just excited,” Kaup said. “Paige made it onto a varsity boat her first year. I’m kind of hoping to do the same thing and make it onto a varsity boat and earn a scholarship. I’m just excited to give it my all. I’m already signed up for a rowing camp at Ohio State and I’m all in.”