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.
Originally posted by botterud
Why? What is so magical about being "American?" Other than for those who moved here and were naturalized isn't it just really an accident of birth? Why draw artificail boundaries?
I don’t think magic has much to do with being an American, but we are each entitled an opinion.
As for drawing artificial boundaries, while I’ll agree that the border between the US and Canada and the US and Mexico are somewhat arbitrary, they are both pretty well fixed by law. And can we agree that the US’s eastern and western boundaries are more than artificial? But I digress; this thread started out discussing NCAA (the “N” stands for National, which in this case is the United States) and the discussion is taking place on the USMS Discussion Forum (the US stands for United States).
Originally posted by LindsayNB
If athletic scholarships are meant to attract top notch athletes to contribute to the school's athletic program then giving them to foreign students makes perfect sense.
Absolutely! And we should also drop the student from student/athlete, allowing the colleges to recruit these top athletes without worrying about things such as education. Let’s turn our college athletic programs into junior programs for the NBA and NFL. And while you’re at it why don’t we pay these athletes.
But, these are way off the original topic “2) Is it of benefit or detriment to U.S. swimming to have these foreign athletes training and competing here?” Personally, I see both benefits and detriments, must of which have already been stated numerous times in this thread. One detriment that has yet to be mentioned is the impact of the talent drain in Irish, English and South African national college swimming. What damage is being done to the quality of competition at the FCAA (French College Athletic Association)?
Originally posted by botterud
Why? What is so magical about being "American?" Other than for those who moved here and were naturalized isn't it just really an accident of birth? Why draw artificail boundaries?
I don’t think magic has much to do with being an American, but we are each entitled an opinion.
As for drawing artificial boundaries, while I’ll agree that the border between the US and Canada and the US and Mexico are somewhat arbitrary, they are both pretty well fixed by law. And can we agree that the US’s eastern and western boundaries are more than artificial? But I digress; this thread started out discussing NCAA (the “N” stands for National, which in this case is the United States) and the discussion is taking place on the USMS Discussion Forum (the US stands for United States).
Originally posted by LindsayNB
If athletic scholarships are meant to attract top notch athletes to contribute to the school's athletic program then giving them to foreign students makes perfect sense.
Absolutely! And we should also drop the student from student/athlete, allowing the colleges to recruit these top athletes without worrying about things such as education. Let’s turn our college athletic programs into junior programs for the NBA and NFL. And while you’re at it why don’t we pay these athletes.
But, these are way off the original topic “2) Is it of benefit or detriment to U.S. swimming to have these foreign athletes training and competing here?” Personally, I see both benefits and detriments, must of which have already been stated numerous times in this thread. One detriment that has yet to be mentioned is the impact of the talent drain in Irish, English and South African national college swimming. What damage is being done to the quality of competition at the FCAA (French College Athletic Association)?
