This is Home: International Athlete Journeys to Virginia Tech

At the start of the 2024-25 academic year, there were 75 international student athletes at Virginia Tech, coming from 34 countries to make their mark of 17 of the school’s 22 varsity athletic teams. 

But it all started with one student athlete more than a century ago. 

A voyage from Hong Kong, China to Vancouver, Canada, a train ride across the United States to New York City, New York, and an unknown path to southwest Virginia, led to Cato Lee enrolling at Virginia Tech in 1923 where he became the first international student athlete at the school. 

Born Lee Kee Tow in Bangkok, Thailand in 1904, he lived in Canton, China from the age of 4 until he turned 14. At the age of 14, Lee’s father, Lee Tek Khoeia, enrolled him in an English/Chinese school in Hong Kong, China.

When Lee was 17, one of his schoolmates, Tien-Liang Jeu, convinced him to study in the United States. Lee was too young to enroll in higher education, so he attended Fork Union Military Academy, a military high school in Virginia. Lee eventually found his way to Virginia Tech, becoming one of the first six Chinese students at Virginia Tech. 

Lee joined the freshman track and field team in the 1923-24 academic year and went on to compete in both varsity track and field (1924-1926) and tennis (1926-1927).  

Outside of varsity athletics, Lee was a member of his cadet company’s basketball team during his junior and senior years. He was also a member of the Cosmopolitan Club, the Rifle Club, and belonged to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Lee Literary Society. Lee graduated in 1927 with a degree in mechanical engineering. 

In the 1927 edition of Virginia Tech’s Bugle, he was described this way: 

“Cato well illustrates the truth in Kipling’s great poem by showing us that the gentleman of the East is not different from the gentleman of the West. With his gentlemanly conduct, pleasing personality, and ready wit, he has endeared himself to the hearts of all Techmen. Despite the difficulty of learning a new language, Cato leaves a record which is entirely satisfactory. Realizing that college activities are as important as class work, he displayed his athletic ability as a speedy hurdler on the freshman and varsity track teams and as a valuable tennis player. With his great ambition and high ideals there is no limitation as to what Cato may do for his country and the world in the future.” 

Lee returned to Thailand after his graduation where he became a successful businessman. He married Kim Reiw and they had 10 children, but he never forgot his formative years at Virginia Tech.  

“Being an athlete, he was able to make friends with other athletes and thought very well of [them],” said his daughter Gi Marziano, who like many of her siblings followed in his footsteps by experiencing life in the United States. “He said they treated him very kindly.” 

“I think Virginia Tech gave him so many things that he could use and rely on all through his career…he just absolutely loved the school and everything about Virginia Tech.” 

More than 100 years later, Virginia Tech continues to provide special opportunities for international athletes.

Carles Coll Marti came to Virginia Tech’s swimming program with big aspirations and he’s more than met them. He closed his college career by being named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Most Valuable Men’s Swimmer at the 2025 championships after winning a pair of individual events. It came on the heels of him winning the 200-breaststroke title at the World Aquatics Swimming Championship in Hungary at the end of 2024 and representing his native Spain in the 2024 Summer Olympics. 

The school sets its athletes up for success. 

Following their graduations, some will return home, and some will remain in the United States. Either way, they’ll always hang on to a piece of Virginia Tech. 

“When they say this is home, they really mean it,” said Charlotte Rigg, a swimmer from England. “I’ve just fell in love with Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, the swim and dive team. I’ve never had that sense of belonging before, that sense of community and that sense of family in a different environment. I think Virginia Tech has something really special going on here. I’m so glad that I chose this place.”