Freshman swimmer Aurore Jacolin never visited Missouri’s campus. The closest she got was a virtual tour from coach Greg Rhodenbaugh.

“We had to (use) Skype (to) show her around because most of the people from overseas aren’t going to come over and do anything, and it’s too expensive to bring them over,” Rhodenbaugh said.

Jacolin is from Toulouse, France, and is the first French swimmer Rhodenbaugh has ever brought to Mizzou.

For foreign athletes, the recruiting process is different from ones in the U.S. Unlike American swimmers, initiating contact is generally their responsibility.

“We wait for them to recruit us,” Rhodenbaugh said. “We don’t really go after anybody overseas.”

Jacolin is a sprint freestyle swimmer and has made an immediate impact on Mizzou’s team. In her first two meets as a Tiger, she tallied 35 points. She also swam on some of Mizzou’s top relay teams.

Jacolin started to consider swimming in the U.S. last August.

“I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do after high school so I said, ‘Yeah, that could be a good idea,’” she said.

Although cultural changes have been challenging, Jacolin credits her teammates with helping her adjust. Her roommate is freshman swimmer Kylie Dahlgren, and she also said junior Victoria Trost and sophomore Hannah Stevens have been helpful in her transition.

Overall, though, she credits the entire team with making her time at Mizzou worthwhile.

“They are very nice and I feel like if it was a second family,” she said.

With her new group of teammates comes a new challenge. Since France uses the metric system, Jacolin has trained in meters for her entire life. Until coming to Mizzou, she never swam in yards. Because of the difference in measurement, it is hard for her to set specific time goals for the season.