By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
U.S. President Donald Trump has launched his latest escalation against Harvard University, stripping the school of its ability to enroll foreign students by decertifying its eligibility for the Student and Exchange Visitor Program. This would force thousands of students to transfer out of one of the world’s most prestigious universities, including a number of student athletes.
The move is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to pull Harvard in line with administration policies after previously freezing over $2 billion in research grants. Harvard, which at more than $53 billion has the largest university endowment in the world, has resisted the pressure from the government and sued for those grants to be restored. Several other universities have been willing to shift policy in response to similar threats from the administration.
More specific to swimming, the move would potentially impact three returning members of Harvard’s men’s swimming & diving team and four returning members of Harvard’s women’s swimming & diving team.
Underclassmen with international hometowns on Harvard’s 2024-2025 Swimming & Diving rosters
Swimmer Squad Class (24-25) Listed Hometown Kristin Helga Hakonardottir Women’s Swimming Sophomore Kopavogur, Iceland Blythe Wieclawek Women’s Swimming Sophomore Oro-Medonte, Canada Nina Janmyr Women’s Diving Junior Hjarup, Sweden Giulia Viacava Women’s Swimming Freshman Monaco Felipe Baffico Men’s Swimming Sophomore Santiago, Chile Mert Iravul Men’s Swimming Freshman Ankara, Turkey Filip Lanyi Men’s Swimming Sophomore Piestany, SlovakiaJanmyr scored 26 points individually, Viacava scored 19 points individually, and Hakonardottir scored 1 point individually at the 2025 Ivy League Championships.
The men’s team also has at least four international swimmers slated to join them next season: Ognjen Pilipovic of Serbia, Maro Miknic and Vito Rados of Croatia, and Mark Iltsisin of Estonia. Miknc was the silver medalist in the 100 fly at the 2024 European Junior Swimming Championships.
Other sports would be hit much harder, as outlined here by the Associated Press. Ten out of 13 members of the men’s squash team and more than half of the women’s soccer team, for example, list international home towns, as do seven of the eight members of the men’s heavyweight rowing team.
With 42 varsity teams and 919 student-athletes, Harvard has the largest athletics department. A report last month by Sportico found that 21% of the players on Harvard’s rosters for the 2024-2025 season listed international hometowns, though some could be U.S. citizens or green card holders.
The immediate impact would be on F-1 and J-1 visa holders, the visa types specifically for international students, but students holding other visa types may not be impacted. Harvard had nearly 7,000 students holding F-1 and J-1 visas in the 2024-2025 school year.
The NCAA Transfer Portal has already closed for swimming & diving athletes, and the NCAA has not responded to a request for whether that deadline would be extended for these athletes.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: How Many Harvard Swim & DIve Athletes Are Impacted By Trump Admin’s International Student Ban?
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