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
Paul,
Please let us know of *any* foreign university (outside of Canada) that provides athletic scholarships to anybody. It is an unusual feature of the U.S. system that athletics are so closely tied to academic study (or at least pretend to be.)
Anyway, since when do American swimmers have a "right" to an athletic scholarship? If they are good enough they will get one, if not, they should get better. Competition can only make people faster.
This area where I work is most successful when it (and the national government) allows the best and brightest to come here. That is also true for our universities, and for our sport programs.
Paul,
Please let us know of *any* foreign university (outside of Canada) that provides athletic scholarships to anybody. It is an unusual feature of the U.S. system that athletics are so closely tied to academic study (or at least pretend to be.)
Anyway, since when do American swimmers have a "right" to an athletic scholarship? If they are good enough they will get one, if not, they should get better. Competition can only make people faster.
This area where I work is most successful when it (and the national government) allows the best and brightest to come here. That is also true for our universities, and for our sport programs.
