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.
Parents
Former Member
"I sometimes can't stand this America is holy-er than thou routine-kind of sickening."
Gosh, I have not read that into these posts.....
For myself, Justforfun....and a few others ....the point it...USA, AMERICAN SWIMMERS have very few opportunities to get scholarships....so why on earth should our hard earned money be spent on scholarships for foreign swimmers while OUR swimmers go without....Dah…..
This has nothing to do with the USA being the best....or….. who founded our great nation....it has to do with common sense....Common sense for me dictates that I am going to make sure the kid next door or the kids on my son's swim team gets a scholarship to swim at a university or college funded by Americans…. before...giving that money to a foreign swimmer. Heck, where was that foreign swimmer and HIS countries support all the years that USA kid swam HERE IN THE USA....
"I sometimes can't stand this America is holy-er than thou routine-kind of sickening."
Gosh, I have not read that into these posts.....
For myself, Justforfun....and a few others ....the point it...USA, AMERICAN SWIMMERS have very few opportunities to get scholarships....so why on earth should our hard earned money be spent on scholarships for foreign swimmers while OUR swimmers go without....Dah…..
This has nothing to do with the USA being the best....or….. who founded our great nation....it has to do with common sense....Common sense for me dictates that I am going to make sure the kid next door or the kids on my son's swim team gets a scholarship to swim at a university or college funded by Americans…. before...giving that money to a foreign swimmer. Heck, where was that foreign swimmer and HIS countries support all the years that USA kid swam HERE IN THE USA....
