A peek at Grand Valley State’s roster reveals 10 international players from seven countries: Germany, Australia, Spain, Lithuania, Mexico, Brazil and the Netherlands. With the variety, different cultures and perspectives abound.

The Grand Valley State swimming and diving team may come from all around the world, but the athletes are all part of one big family.

“I think what’s really big for a lot of international students is being included in the family aspect of the team,” said senior Gianni Ferrero. “You spend so much time together not only in practice, but also outside of the pool, and that’s really something we don’t have back home.”

Ferrero is from Germany, and is one of three international swimmers — Jesus Morales, Lara Deible and himself — that stood out to head coach Andy Boyce.

“They’re all hard workers. All of our kids are, it’s hard to single out just three. All three are excellent in the classroom and excellent in the pool.”

The U.S. is an attractive option for international students due to the combination of school and athletics at U.S. universities. In many countries, schools don’t have athletic programs, and players are forced to join clubs outside of their academic pursuits.

“In Germany, and generally in Europe, we don’t have college athletics. There’s no such thing. You go to college and that’s it. You take classes and that’s it,” Ferrero said.

The club teams and classes are both full-time commitments, and the system doesn’t accommodate students who wish to do both. Ferrero said the student-athlete model in the U.S. works much better for people like himself.

“College in the U.S. is more of an experience. It’s more fun. The system here, the way it’s designed with classes, the way you choose your major, I personally think it’s much easier,” he said. “I personally like the system here, and of course college athletics, it’s been very beneficial for myself.”

Beneficial is an understatement. Since coming to GVSU as a freshman in 2013, Ferrero has had a decorated swimming career at GVSU. He holds 11 varsity school records, as well as three freshman records. He earned six All-American honors last season, and placed first in the 100 backstroke (47.45) as well as the individual medley (1:46.97) at the 2015 GLIAC Championships.

Ferrero says the family atmosphere on the team is one of the biggest reasons for his success at GVSU.

“Two days (after arriving) we left for a training trip, and I got placed on a bus with 60 people that I didn’t know, and they welcomed me in a great way,” he said. “Even though the entire situation was stressful and kind of difficult, they really tried to make it as smooth as possible.”

Deible, another German native, is entering her first year at GVSU, but is a junior academically. She and Ferrero met back in Germany, and after expressing some of the same complaints about the system in their home country, Deible was convinced to come to the U.S.

Morales, also a junior, is originally from Madrid, Spain, and transferred to GVSU last December.

Both Deible and Morales are still adjusting to life in the U.S., which brings its own set of challenges.

“You have to get used to the language because Americans speak faster than when Germans talk English, and of course you’re sometimes homesick, but not that much because you have the team,” Deible said. “I talked to a lot of international students and they were struggling finding friends. The team here is like a family and they can help you.”

The team uses a number of team-building exercises. The Lakers host a team-building night at the beginning of the year, where they state team goals and participate in activities aimed at building chemistry. This is especially important for the international students.

“It’s a nice international group of students here at Grand Valley that right away, they’re friends when they get here,” Boyce said. “They do things for the international school at the beginning of the year so they get to know each other, and right away they have 50 to 60 new friends on the swimming and diving team here too.”

Boyce went on to say that building that family environment within the team can give the athletes an advantage in the pool.

“It’s so important for our team to really get to know what makes their teammate tick,” he said. “I think that helps a lot when you come down the stretch and you go into the conference championship, and you go into the national championships.

“It makes you that much stronger.”

Morales started his U.S. career at Union College in Kentucky, but transferred after not being satisfied, and said the environment at GVSU is unique.

“You feel like you’re in a really good environment, like everyone is really nice and they treat you like you have been here forever since the very first day,” he said. “Before coming here I was in Kentucky, and I didn’t have the same feeling over there.

“Once I walked onto the pool deck, everyone was with a smiling face, saying, ‘Hi, how are you man, welcome,’ and all that.

“Everything was perfect.”