“I also suspect her “exercise induced asthma” was a precondition she couldn’t help but be aware of....”
Not necessarily. Mine showed up in my late 30’s. I was previously a competitive surfer, soccer player, pilot rescue swimmer, etc. ad nauseum. Ran everyday. When the exercise induced asthma showed up it was large and in charge. Not all asthma onset is during childhood.
I’ve had two exercise-induced asthma episodes in my life — both very scary and both in situations where a coach/instructor was insisting I continue a strenuous activity when I was saying I needed to stop and rest. First episode was when I was about 16 and the second was when I was 22. It’s very possible that this young lady had never had such an episode before she started college, and it may well have been brought to light by rigorous ROTC training activities where there was intense pressure to continue even when you felt you really needed to stop. If it hadn’t been for those two unwise individuals I encountered (first was a high school Phys Ed teacher during a swimming class, second was a college gymnastics team coach), I’d have gone right on doing what I’d always done — resting for a couple of minutes when I felt I really needed to — and I would never have known I had exercise-induced asthma.