College is already tough enough, but can you imagine how difficult it would be to go through all of your classes in a second language? That is what UNC Wilmington men’s swimmer Valterri Halonen has to go through every day.

Halonen was born and raised in Kouvola, Finland, which included going to the equivalent of American high school there. The Finnish school system’s emphasis on learning to speak English at a young age has helped acclimate him to the United States. This gave Halonen nine years to develop his English speaking skills before attending school at UNCW.

In the pool, Halonen is an incredible swimmer. He stands about 6-feet-1-inches tall and has an ultimate goal of swimming a 1:46 200-meter backstroke. This would be a tremendous time, but if anyone can manage the feat, he has a chance. His personal record of 1:50.94 in the 200-meter backstroke is 32nd-best in the country.

Although the individual times in swimming are important to Halonen, he understands that swimming is a team sport. He looks to continue UNCW’s consecutive CAA title streak of 10 years, which he feels is very impressive.

Why UNCW, though? This was a question all current freshmen had to answer. To Halonen, it just felt right to him. He emailed his swimming times emails to the Seahawk swimming coaches, and it was all downhill from there.

Going to study thousands of miles away means you need to have a good support system behind you. “My parents were supportive,” said Halonen. This factored into his decision to come here, picking UNCW over other CAA schools.

Like other freshmen, Halonen is just trying to adjust to life in a different area at a different school. Unlike other freshmen, though, he does it through his second best language in a foreign country. So far, the three-time CAA Swimmer of the Week is fitting in just fine socially and athletically and will be a force to be reckoned with in the pool the next four years.