WASHINGTON — The shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 has made international headlines, but for some in the United States, the consequences are personal.
One of the passengers, Karlijn Keijzer of the Netherlands, attended Indiana University, where she pursued graduate studies and was part of the rowing team.
According to the Washington Post, she was back home for the summer and traveling with her boyfriend when the flight was shot down over Ukraine Thursday.
Two of her former teammates, Jennifer Schultz and Cara Donley, spoke with WTOP Saturday. They remember Karlijn as a competitive, friendly, and charismatic young woman.
“We didn’t really know what to expect,” Schultz told WTOP. “She was one of our first international recruits. Within the first couple weeks, though, she really took over as a leader.”
Donley agrees.
“She just had a presence about her,” she said. “She was incredibly competitive, and an incredibly confident rower. She just approached everything she did with this kind of confidence, and I think it just rubbed off on everyone on the team.”
But both women said there was more to Keijzer than that.
“She was one of those people where, on the water and in races, she was fierce
