Fresh Faces: Guy Shilon

Less than eight months ago, Guy Shilon's prospects of swimming at Iowa State were in limbo.

The Caesarea, Israel, native finished her final high school exams and was in the process of attaining eligibility from the NCAA. Though she was confident she did well on the tests, she and the Iowa State coaching staff had no way of knowing exactly how well she did.

Israel's Ministry of Education takes a hiatus following the end of the school year, so scores are not available in a timely fashion.

“It would be similar to a high school senior here in the United States taking their exams but not getting access to their final transcript until September or October,” said assistant swimming coach Kelly Nordell, who led the charge in recruiting Shilon.

Typically the break doesn't create an issue for those seeking college admission, as Israel has a requirement for serving two years in the military upon high school graduation.

Shilon, however, was exempted from the requirement because she has diabetes, so she was already applying for colleges. Without the test scores to send to the NCAA, Shilon's parents had to take matters into their own hands.

They were able to get Shilon's tests graded early, but then needed signatures to verify the scores. After tracking down the right people, Shilon's father drove two hours to find them.

“One was at a party, but he went and got their signature,” Nordell recalled. “It would be like me driving to Washington D.C. and finding someone from the Department of Education. It's just a different system, but her parents persevered and stayed positive about it.”

After weeks of scrambling to get the right paperwork submitted, Shilon was cleared by the NCAA to compete at Iowa State. Despite the hurdles of getting to Ames and starting college, the Israeli National Team member immediately strengthened Iowa State's presence in backstroke events.

Less than halfway through her freshman season, Shilon has already cracked Iowa State's All-Time Top Performers list in the 100 backstroke (No. 13) and 200 backstroke (No. 12) and is one of Iowa State's top-three backstrokers in both events this season.

“I work hard in practice and I want to improve my swimming and I give it all for it,” Shilon said. “I [still] want to improve my records and I have teammates who help me in practice.”

As with many international students, the cultural barriers have proven tough to overcome at times. Learning to live on your own at the age of 18 is one thing, but doing it while living in a new country and still learning its native language only adds to the already difficult task.

“Changing my whole life,” Shilon said of the most challenging part of coming to the United States. “The language, living on my own, my family [and] my friends changed.”

Shilon has worked through those obstacles day by day with practical approaches like a “Word of the Day” at practice or talking with fellow Israel native Shahar Silberman, a senior on the team.

Adapting to the lifestyle of a college student while being in a different hemisphere than her home has been challenging, but with those challenges have come many rewards – one of which came at the Big Challenge in late November. This one, however, did not come in the form of minutes and seconds.

Shilon's parents, who put forth so much effort to ensure her a college education and eligibility, were able to make the nearly-6,600 mile journey from Caesarea, Israel, to Topeka, Kansas, to watch her compete for the first time since becoming a Cyclone.

Tears of elation were shed for a moment before Shilon got down to business for the weekend, setting a pair of personal records in the 200 IM during the competition.

The support of Shilon's family has proven to know no geographic boundary. As perhaps one of the greatest rewards for surmounting the cumbersome process of getting to Ames and learning to live in a new culture, Shilon was able to show her parents that every bit of her journey has been worth it.

“It was great,” Shilon said. “My family is part of my life – a big part of my life – and I was happy that they [came] here.”