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.
I wonder how many of the foreign athletes who get scholarships actually live here, and their parents live here and pay taxes here.
Our age group swim team has an assistant coach who swam for Bulgaria in the Olympics. His son is on full-ride scholarship here and also swam for Bulgaria last year. They have lived here since their son was small and work here and pay taxes here. So how many of the "foreign" athletes actually pay taxes in the USA?
I wonder how many of the foreign athletes who get scholarships actually live here, and their parents live here and pay taxes here.
Our age group swim team has an assistant coach who swam for Bulgaria in the Olympics. His son is on full-ride scholarship here and also swam for Bulgaria last year. They have lived here since their son was small and work here and pay taxes here. So how many of the "foreign" athletes actually pay taxes in the USA?