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
Connie:
You immigrated to this country legally and became a productive citizen, and in doing so actions like that are what made our country great. I am not espousing that we close our borders to everyone. What I am saying, we need to close our borders to anyone who wants to come here illegally without US Immigration granting them permission to come here. Unless we do that the USA will become the welfare Country for every nation on earth and US Citizens will end up footing a bill we cannot afford. Hey, do not take my word for that, simply look at every single border county in Texas, AZ and California to see how STRETCHED to the limit their budgets are due to illegal immigrants taxing their health care and other social services.
I stand by my beliefs that ONLY US Citizens should be allowed scholarship money to swim. MOST, foreign swimmers come here to get an education on the United State’s nickel and then they end up competing for their home countries against the USA in world competition. I will NEVER be comfortable with that….ever…
Connie:
You immigrated to this country legally and became a productive citizen, and in doing so actions like that are what made our country great. I am not espousing that we close our borders to everyone. What I am saying, we need to close our borders to anyone who wants to come here illegally without US Immigration granting them permission to come here. Unless we do that the USA will become the welfare Country for every nation on earth and US Citizens will end up footing a bill we cannot afford. Hey, do not take my word for that, simply look at every single border county in Texas, AZ and California to see how STRETCHED to the limit their budgets are due to illegal immigrants taxing their health care and other social services.
I stand by my beliefs that ONLY US Citizens should be allowed scholarship money to swim. MOST, foreign swimmers come here to get an education on the United State’s nickel and then they end up competing for their home countries against the USA in world competition. I will NEVER be comfortable with that….ever…
