As a child, Shahar Silberman was very curious. She wanted to participate in as many activities as she could to find out what interests she had. Shahar fell in love with swimming, and interestingly enough, she fell in love with the sport in Israel.

“I started swimming when I was 12 which is sort of old,” Silberman said. “I just registered to every activity I could, and then I fell in love with swimming. By the age of 14 I was on the national team for youth, and from there it became obvious that swimming was what I wanted to do.”

Though her home is over 6,300 miles away, Silberman was very comfortable with the life change.

“Israel and here is pretty similar,” Silberman said. “It is different religiously and there is a different culture, but most of the things are really similar.”

While sports are a popular pastime in American culture, the same can’t be said for Israel. Silberman also portrayed that her success as an athlete relied heavily on her parents’ support.

“One of the things we don’t have is the emphasis of sports,” Silberman said. “It’s harder if you want to be an athlete. It’s a lot on you and your parents, more than your school helps you. We don’t have sports in schools, and I thought that was hard to deal with.”

Silberman started her search for college online by cross-referencing schools with a pre-med program and a swimming team. Silberman initially had a great connection with Iowa State.

Her first time contacting Iowa State, Silberman spoke with ISU assistant coach Kelly Nordell for around an hour over the phone, but was so nervous she couldn’t understand most of the conversation. The coaching staff also used Skype as a recruiting tactic.

“I was looking all over, and to be honest. I didn’t want a place that would be cold because I’m not used to it, but I really liked the people and the coaches and just the way they approached me,” Silberman said.

Though recruiting an athlete from the other side of the world is no easy task, Nordell took charge and was an integral part in making that happen.

“The process of recruiting Shahar was complicated and lengthy,” Nordell said. “She had contacted us and sent us video. Shahar followed through with getting all of her documents and paperwork sent to ISU and the NCAA Eligibility Center. As an international student-athlete, you have to be persistent and determined with all the documentation that is needed to attend school and compete at the Division I level.”

Plenty of athletes come from other countries that compete for universities here in the United States, but Israel is not a commonly seen origin for a collegiate athlete.

“You do not find too many Israeli athletes competing in the U.S. at Division I because of the rules,” Nordell said. “It is so complicated to explain and most of these young athletes do not know the NCAA rules as an 18 year old Israeli citizen.”

On top of searching for the right college, Silberman had to balance her civic duty of training for the military while still in Israel.

“I served in the military for two years, and that is mandatory,” Silberman said. “I got a status of an excellent athlete, which means I did the basic training and then after that I served in a classified unit. All the hours for the military were based on my practice schedule. It allowed me to go to practice and do my service as well.”

After Silberman finished her service and was eligible to come swim for the Cyclones, she made an immediate impact.

ISU coach Duane Sorensen talked about Silberman’s importance to the team and what she brings to the table as a competitor.

“Shahar is one of our 200 butterfly swimmers,” Sorensen said. “She has done a nice job scoring points for us over the last 2-plus years by racing that event in both dual and championship format meets.” 

Despite Silberman’s unique background, Sorensen noted that she has embraced the team environment as much as anyone.

“She is a very team orientated person,” Sorenson said. “When she’s not racing you can see her on the side of the pool cheering loudly for her teammates. She comes to practice every day ready to put the work in to become the best she can be.”