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
Although not as weighted as it used ot be, atheletic ability and performace is one criteria for decision making in determining who becomes a Rhodes Scholar. Haven't you read Clinton's book, My Life." If you want to learn how to become president, it is the best book about what type of character (good or bad) it takes to become president.
Also, almost any debate about foreigners coming to the uS to use services has some aspect of racism or negative internationalism in it. It is by defintion the nature of the debate. This does include swimmers taking scholarships. How can you complain about a son getting a free education at a service academy?
As for health care, almost evedry hospital in the US has a foundaton attached to it. That foundation pays a get deal of its 5-7% annually to cover hospital bills for clients who are unable to pay. It used to be called Hill/Burton Act. Some of the money was reimbursed by the fedral government. Now it isn't.
What about foreign students who come to the US on other types of scholarships? If it weren't for foreign students most large univerities woudn't have enough teachers to teach physics and mathematics to undergrads.
I think Denmark, India, Ireland (if you have aan Irish relative no more than two generations back), and Sweden also provides licenses to citizens of other countries and some will even let you take some university classes for free if you have one parent who is a citizen of that country but you aren't.
Although not as weighted as it used ot be, atheletic ability and performace is one criteria for decision making in determining who becomes a Rhodes Scholar. Haven't you read Clinton's book, My Life." If you want to learn how to become president, it is the best book about what type of character (good or bad) it takes to become president.
Also, almost any debate about foreigners coming to the uS to use services has some aspect of racism or negative internationalism in it. It is by defintion the nature of the debate. This does include swimmers taking scholarships. How can you complain about a son getting a free education at a service academy?
As for health care, almost evedry hospital in the US has a foundaton attached to it. That foundation pays a get deal of its 5-7% annually to cover hospital bills for clients who are unable to pay. It used to be called Hill/Burton Act. Some of the money was reimbursed by the fedral government. Now it isn't.
What about foreign students who come to the US on other types of scholarships? If it weren't for foreign students most large univerities woudn't have enough teachers to teach physics and mathematics to undergrads.
I think Denmark, India, Ireland (if you have aan Irish relative no more than two generations back), and Sweden also provides licenses to citizens of other countries and some will even let you take some university classes for free if you have one parent who is a citizen of that country but you aren't.
