Former University of Texas swimming standout Joscelin Yeo has been awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, to study at the University of Oxford in England. Yeo becomes the first University of Texas female student-athlete to receive this prestigious award. As a highly-decorated three-time Olympian from her native Republic of Singapore, a 21-time collegiate All-America swimmer, an Academic All-American, a budding journalist who will publish her first book in July, someone who spent the last nine months studying massage therapy and getting her certification this spring, it appeared as if Yeo had achieved all that a 25-year old could. (Yeo's book, to be published in Singapore in a few months, is entitled "On the Move" about her life experiences and her perspectives.) She spent three years at UT (2000-03) after transferring from the University of California. Then, last week, she returned to Austin from a visit to her family in her native Singapore and waiting for her was a packet from the Rhodes Scholarship Committee, informing her of its decision to grant her one of the coveted awards.

Yeo, a Dean's List education major with a 3.68 GPA at Texas who graduated last spring, will go to Oxford and study "Science and Medicine of Athletic Performance". From a field of over 1,000 USA and international candidates, Yeo was one of 95 scholars to earn this coveted academic award which provides two or three years of study at Oxford.

"I was incredibly shocked and honored when I saw the letter, because the Rhodes Scholarship application process has been so arduous and so time-consuming, and to receive this scholarship is over-whelming," stated Yeo. "It will be an honor to go to Oxford and study. It will always have special meaning that I am the first Texas female athlete to earn a Rhodes Scholarship. I've come here and met so many great professors, and my swimming experiences and teammates here have meant so much to me."

Currently, Yeo is in the process of undergoing swimming trials to qualify for a fourth consecutive Olympics for her native country of Singapore.

Yeo will enter the University of Oxford in England next October, almost exactly one hundred years after the first class did in 1904. The oldest of the international study awards, the Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by British philanthropist and colonial pioneer Cecil Rhodes. Through the scholarships, outstanding students are brought to Oxford from all over the world. Applicants are chosen on the basis of the criteria set down in Rhodes' will: "high academic achievement, integrity of character, a spirit of unselfishness, respect for others, potential for leadership and physical vigor." Previous scholars include former President Bill Clinton.

The award pays all tuition, fees and living expenses for two years at Oxford, plus travel expenses to and from the university. The scholarship will cover a third year at Oxford if it is needed for a student's area of study. Its value varies by academic field but averages $30,000 per year.

"The application for a Rhodes is very tough, as are the interviews," Yeo stated. "I had to do lots and lots of research on my area of study, as well as researching how I could contribute back to society with the Oxford degree. My plan is to go back to Singapore where we've moved from a "Third World" nation to a "First World" nation in the areas of business, medicine and science, but in athletics, we are still Third World. I want to go back and promote sports in the society to youth, athletes and non-athletes alike. Singapore just opened a national sports school this January, and the goal is to make Singapore a successful sporting society."

"Joscelin is a remarkable student-athlete, and clearly, we at The University are so proud of her for this wonderful achievement," commented Texas Women's Athletics Director Chris Plonsky. "She is our most prolific female swimmer in recent memory and world-class in both her studies and athletics."

"We all congratulate Joscelin on her Rhodes Scholarship," noted Dr. Randa Ryan, Women's Athletics Associate AD for Student Affairs at UT. "To earn a Rhodes Scholarship is a tremendous honor for any student; to have that student be an athlete, especially to succeed at the Olympic and All-America level that Joscelin has, is quite special indeed."