Update: on Friday, a Federal judge block the Trump Administration from withdrawing Harvard’s access to international student visas. Read more from the AP here.
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, Slovakia
|
Wieclawek scored 57 points individually, Janmyr 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.
Generally student visas are at the direction of the State Department. It would be surprising if there were not an ability for each student to appeal for exception from this generalized decision. Pretty sure the swimming and diving team members would have some success in seeking waivers. Primarily if they personally steer clear of anti-semitic activities.
Waiting for Trump to go after kids of very wealthy parents getting in (parents donated a building). Isn’t that like DEI? This probably won’t happen because probably how DT got into Penn. He never allowed Penn to release his SAT scores or his grades! Or go after legacy admissions. Isn’t that a a form of DEI too? His billionaire cronies won’t like that!
Or making all athletes use same entrance requirements as all students! I am playing devil’s advocate but why should football players have easier standards? What is difference between football players and a straight A kid?
lol take a look at how his son in law got in sometime.
This will clearly go away or morph into something lessor. However, I saw there were about 1.1 million international students in the US (not sure how many of them are athletes). From March ’24 to March ’25 that numbered declined by 11% independent of Harvard. I assume the number of international athletes was not changed much, but with stuff like this… If I was the parent of an athlete overseas, reading about this, I might be more likely to advise my child to sit out the turmoil…
Between Yu Zidi, the Enhanced games, and now Trump tomfoolery affecting international swimmers it’s been a crazy week in the swimming world
My inbox has never felt so alive.
let me see your box
also why do people yell directly at you?? it’s way more fun to do it publicly down here!
Anyone who thinks that the courts can stop this is delusional – this administration has no regard for court orders and has defied several of them. The rule of law is dead and buried. Way to go MAGA – you’ve sold us out to a conman.
Get out and vote in 2026.
Please do, but only if you closely consider the candidates with honesty and rational analysis. And make sure your information sources are honest and rational as well. Most of the commenters here have clearly not applied such standards to their stated positions.
I agree with you completely.
Agreed. Trump has ignored judge orders supreme court decisions, and yet no consequences.
Wake up America! Before it’s too late.
Tommy Boy – it was too late in Nov. of 24′ – if they have their way, there will be more more open and fair elections.
that’s true but many other decisions, 1ñ,have allowed folks to go back to work,etc. I do agree those folks are never getting out of el salvador. International students at Harvard number 25%
Can you name a single court order that Trump has ignored or just like the talking point?
He could but then you’re going to regurgitate the Trump talking points about why it wasn’t a real court order or why he doesn’t have to follow it, so why do we have to play this game when we already know where it’s going?
Thank you for saving me the trouble. Coach D lives in an alternate reality. Can can simply look at the post below this that references the order from the Supremes to facilitate the return of Garcia, but that simply isn’t going to happen because what are they going to do? Like I said, the rule of law is dead.
Deporting people to 3rd countries, the latest being the ones sent to South Sudan from an assortment of Asian countries.
how’s that Supreme Court facilitatin’ goin’
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/11/nx-s1-5359390/supreme-court-says-officials-must-facilitate-the-return-of-a-man-mistakenly-deported
Abrego Garcia, for one.
I would vote Cameron McChoker as a write in for President over this orange loser
We live in a clown show and are a laughingstock to the world
If you are an American citizen, you are able to write in whoever you wish during elections. At present time and of 1338 more days, President Trump is the winner of the election and the most powerful man in the world.
We, the majority of American citizens, are NOW living in a great, getting greater Republic by the day.
You are more delusional than Brett H my guy
Wake up
It’s a cult – Trump’s croonies like RFK junior talk about him being divinely set figure with imagery from revelations…
The bizarre thing though is just how many people sheepingly support Trump no matter what even though they really don’t like such disturbing displays – they just refuse to look at it and profess that any of that is real and important- it’s this bizarre impressive ability to just impose a personal savior fantasy over the man and just presume he’s doing *insert personal vision about how things will be better here*. When you tell them he’s often doing exactly the opposite – they just refuse to acknowledge it and go on living in a false reality.
Honestly… Read more »
This isn’t going to hold water and hopefully gets shot down in the courts. But it does shed light on the fact that these institutions of higher learning have a responsibility to protect all students. A&B is not “freedom of speech”.
Harvard is going to fight this in the courts, and other universities and large corporations should band together and fight back against US gov.’s illegal actions. Those law firms and universities (Columbia) who capitulated quickly are just going to be further abused by US government. Lets see who’s got guts to fight.
Harvard will for sure fight this in the courts – I don’t think they have any choice but to – and I think we all know by now that the Trump administration doesn’t always follow through on these sorts of things. But in the time it takes to resolve itself, that sure is a lot of students left in limbo.
The judge put a pause on this ruling but does the administration listen or abide by the ruling?’?
The only liberal thing he has done is taking bribes and fatten his pockets (pun intended)
Columbia is rethinking its position, from what I understand. Harvard and Columbia (as much as I dislike Columbia – nope, didn’t apply) have to fight the government for unilaterally canceling contracts that were entered into in good faith. Trump has no problem fighting since he’s not fighting with his money. When he sues using his money, he rarely allows the suits to get to the discovery phase. He has nothing to lose but our money.