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.
Originally posted by justforfun
Geek, you said you are a Democrat, but you sound more like a Libertarian.
I did vote libertarian in '04, good observation. Unfortunately in NC, you can't vote in the primaries unless you are either registered with either party AND then you can only vote in that party's primary.
Regardless of affiliation, I don't think being a democrat means you have to believe that raising taxes is the only way to solve problems.
We've strayed from the original topic. There have been some good comments on foreign swimmers and scholarships. While still not a big deal to me, I do some valid concerns but not enough to think our country is in peril from the mad swimming foreigners.
Originally posted by justforfun
Geek, you said you are a Democrat, but you sound more like a Libertarian.
I did vote libertarian in '04, good observation. Unfortunately in NC, you can't vote in the primaries unless you are either registered with either party AND then you can only vote in that party's primary.
Regardless of affiliation, I don't think being a democrat means you have to believe that raising taxes is the only way to solve problems.
We've strayed from the original topic. There have been some good comments on foreign swimmers and scholarships. While still not a big deal to me, I do some valid concerns but not enough to think our country is in peril from the mad swimming foreigners.
