There has been a lot of discussion since Athens about foreign swimmers training in the United States. Most of them attend U.S. Universities, receive athletic scholarships, and compete at NCAA's. Some notable examples include Duje Draganja (Cal), Fred Bousquet and Kirsty Coventry (Auburn), Markus Rogan (Stanford), and the South African sprinters (Arizona). Some train in the U.S., but don't compete for a university (Inge de Bruijn). All of these athletes benefit from U.S. coaching, from training with U.S. swimmers, and in some cases, from financial support provided by U.S. entities (athletic scholarships). They all turn around and then win medals for other countries.
A couple questions: 1) What do you think about this arrangement generally? 2) Is it of benefit or detriment to U.S. swimming to have these foreign athletes training and competing here? 3) Should we be giving athletic scholarships, which are a scarce resource in swimming, to foreign athletes who will represent their own countries internationally instead of U.S.-born swimmers who will represent us internationally?
I'm sure there are other issues, but these come directly to mind.
OK, personally I'm fine with foreign athletes training in the US.
It happens and will continue to happen. We've got some great coaches and athletes are able to train with great peers. Look over lines on maps / nations and do whats best for mankind.
I'd prefer US swimmers getting scholarships. Over the years Eddie Reese at UT has had few foreign swimmers and none to hardly any on scholarship. This hasn't been the case for many other schools. Several foreign swimmers won and scored well at last years div 1 ncaa's
The other part of this worth mentioning are dual citizens, I've swum with several swimmers who were born in the US and lived in the US, but their parents were citizens of other countries, or dual citizens. These swimmers weren't fast enough to make the US olympic team, or didn't want risk trying to make the US Olympic team, but they could make another countries Olympic squad. like Mexico, Hungary, or other countries who's swim squads aren't as fast. That's fine with me too, my friends got to have an Olympic experience. One example is Zubero in the 200 M back in 1992, he swam for Spain at the barcelona olympics and won gold.
Ande
Originally posted by justforfun
There has been a lot of discussion since Athens about foreign swimmers training in the United States. Most of them attend U.S. Universities, receive athletic scholarships, and compete at NCAA's. Some notable examples include Duje Draganja (Cal), Fred Bousquet and Kirsty Coventry (Auburn), Markus Rogan (Stanford), and the South African sprinters (Arizona). Some train in the U.S., but don't compete for a university (Inge de Bruijn). All of these athletes benefit from U.S. coaching, from training with U.S. swimmers, and in some cases, from financial support provided by U.S. entities (athletic scholarships). They all turn around and then win medals for other countries.
A couple questions:
1) What do you think about this arrangement generally?
2) Is it of benefit or detriment to U.S. swimming to have these foreign athletes training and competing here?
3) Should we be giving athletic scholarships, which are a scarce resource in swimming, to foreign athletes who will represent their own countries internationally instead of U.S.-born swimmers who will represent us internationally?
I'm sure there are other issues, but these come directly to mind.
OK, personally I'm fine with foreign athletes training in the US.
It happens and will continue to happen. We've got some great coaches and athletes are able to train with great peers. Look over lines on maps / nations and do whats best for mankind.
I'd prefer US swimmers getting scholarships. Over the years Eddie Reese at UT has had few foreign swimmers and none to hardly any on scholarship. This hasn't been the case for many other schools. Several foreign swimmers won and scored well at last years div 1 ncaa's
The other part of this worth mentioning are dual citizens, I've swum with several swimmers who were born in the US and lived in the US, but their parents were citizens of other countries, or dual citizens. These swimmers weren't fast enough to make the US olympic team, or didn't want risk trying to make the US Olympic team, but they could make another countries Olympic squad. like Mexico, Hungary, or other countries who's swim squads aren't as fast. That's fine with me too, my friends got to have an Olympic experience. One example is Zubero in the 200 M back in 1992, he swam for Spain at the barcelona olympics and won gold.
Ande
Originally posted by justforfun
There has been a lot of discussion since Athens about foreign swimmers training in the United States. Most of them attend U.S. Universities, receive athletic scholarships, and compete at NCAA's. Some notable examples include Duje Draganja (Cal), Fred Bousquet and Kirsty Coventry (Auburn), Markus Rogan (Stanford), and the South African sprinters (Arizona). Some train in the U.S., but don't compete for a university (Inge de Bruijn). All of these athletes benefit from U.S. coaching, from training with U.S. swimmers, and in some cases, from financial support provided by U.S. entities (athletic scholarships). They all turn around and then win medals for other countries.
A couple questions:
1) What do you think about this arrangement generally?
2) Is it of benefit or detriment to U.S. swimming to have these foreign athletes training and competing here?
3) Should we be giving athletic scholarships, which are a scarce resource in swimming, to foreign athletes who will represent their own countries internationally instead of U.S.-born swimmers who will represent us internationally?
I'm sure there are other issues, but these come directly to mind.
