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
As I've Written before, of all the alies in this country permanently, the one most likely to be here illegally is a citizen of the UK. Some foreign companies do pay US taxes. Mitsubishi does and I think BP does now that they have bought gas stations. I believe any company listed on US stock exchanges must pay appropriate taxes also.
Also, US universities should never have to worry about how their program fits into US swimming. they should worry about how they aare educating its students. I believe the national average for all entering Freshmen to graduate is either 66% or 88%. I used to know the number but it has slipped my mind. then look at athletes and their graduation rate. Even swimmers have a relatively low ghrad rate. After all Cincinati one year graduated no athletic scholarship students, regardless of the sport and sex. I think the year was 1997 or 1999(?????).
As I've Written before, of all the alies in this country permanently, the one most likely to be here illegally is a citizen of the UK. Some foreign companies do pay US taxes. Mitsubishi does and I think BP does now that they have bought gas stations. I believe any company listed on US stock exchanges must pay appropriate taxes also.
Also, US universities should never have to worry about how their program fits into US swimming. they should worry about how they aare educating its students. I believe the national average for all entering Freshmen to graduate is either 66% or 88%. I used to know the number but it has slipped my mind. then look at athletes and their graduation rate. Even swimmers have a relatively low ghrad rate. After all Cincinati one year graduated no athletic scholarship students, regardless of the sport and sex. I think the year was 1997 or 1999(?????).
