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'm not against foreign students studying or training in the US. What I am not in favor of is the US supporting those studies or training with American dollars when our citizens may go wanting. Heck, I don't even mind supporting some of the foreign students, academically or athletically if there is money left over after American students have been taken care of. My position is, American students MUST HAVE PRIORITY over foreign students.
Lainey
I'm not against foreign students studying or training in the US. What I am not in favor of is the US supporting those studies or training with American dollars when our citizens may go wanting. Heck, I don't even mind supporting some of the foreign students, academically or athletically if there is money left over after American students have been taken care of. My position is, American students MUST HAVE PRIORITY over foreign students.
Lainey