BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-While some Western Kentucky University swimmers call Kentucky home, others may call Nebraska home. The home states continue down the list, as Hilltoppers and Lady Toppers come to Bowling Green from 15 different states. Along with that, eight swimmers come to WKU from a place they call home outside of the United States.
For those eight international student-athletes, it may have taken time for them to feel comfortable in new surroundings; however, along with those from the U.S., they all find a common home in the water while developing a new family in the WKU swimming and diving team.
"I just got used to it, and I can say I found a new family here in friends and coaches. We are all very close," said senior Adam Dajka who is originally from Budapest, Hungary. "It's a different lifestyle than home. I transferred here three years ago from Delta State, and I love the people here. They are very helpful and nice like on the streets and around the pool. I love the coaches and basically everything. I haven't been home for a year because I stay here since I love to be here."
Dajka along with Brazil native junior Heitor Rodrigues and the rest of the Hilltoppers just came back from Houston, Texas, with a second-place finish in the Conference USA Men's Swimming and Diving Invitational, as the pair took a top spot in their respective events during the competition. Rodrigues, like many of the international swimmers at WKU, had only been to the U.S. on few occasions and never to Bowling Green. It took some time, but Rodrigues found it to be very similar to home.
"You have to adapt yourself first-food, timing and other different things. It took a couple of months to adjust, but it was nothing too hard," Rodrigues said. "The culture itself is different-the food, the way people talk and the language is different. After a while you start to realize that it's not as different as you imagine. People are friendly and people respect you no matter where you are from."
Like Rogrigues, fellow Brazilian Victoria Frascino had only been to Florida in the U.S. with trips to places like Disney World. Frascino attended school in Florida for one year before transferring to WKU.
"I love our team. I transferred here as a sophomore, and what I really didn't like about my old school was the connection to the people on the team, and that is what I really like about here," Frascino said. "Everyone, we do everything together-we go out together, we eat together, we do everything like a family. So when you come from a foreign country, it is very supportive. You have people around you, and it helps to not be homesick."
Though they all miss family and friends back in their respective countries, new friends here help with the slack. The one thing that many of the foreign student-athletes agreed on was missing their home countries' food, as it took some adjusting to get used to in America, especially for Dajka.
"I think it was the food," Dajka said of his biggest adjustment. "I lost 10 pounds, and I kind of got sick because we eat kind of different back home."
Food isn't the only thing sophomore Claire Conlon misses about her home of South Africa.
"I miss the weather. It never snows," Conlon said. "I'm close to the beach, so I miss the beach. I miss the South African lingo because there is like a whole other lingo you have to learn and study. I miss talking in degrees Celsius because everyone here talks in degrees Fahrenheit. I never had to use North Face jackets or UGG boots, and I had to buy all of that coming in."
Conlon, Frascino and the WKU women's swim team travel to Rockwall, Texas, this week to compete in the Sun Belt Conference Championships starting on Wednesday, February 27 through Saturday, March 2. Conlon feels very fortunate to be at WKU and develop the relationships she has with her teammates.
"What I love about the most is that here I can swim and study where as in South Africa you have to choose one or the other," Conlon said. "I also like that we are looked after so well in terms of being athletes such as the student-athlete center and priority registration. I love being part of this team. I didn't come on recruiting trips. I just came. I spoke to Bruce on the phone, and I thought he sounded awesome, so I was very happy. Some people do that and they are miserable, but I am so happy. I was very lucky."
