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
OK, now even I have to question whether we want this thread to travel down the path related to unauthorized immigration, the economic realities of that process, the number of jobs that create the incentives for such actions, the merits of guest worker programs and the value of providing educational and health benefits to residents and their children as opposed to leaving them illiterate and diseased.
But this is a far astray from the issue of athletic scholarships and diversity on college campuses . . .
so let's not go there . . .
just a suggestion . . . but I will certainly yield to the majority and dive right in if people want to travel this path
carl
OK, now even I have to question whether we want this thread to travel down the path related to unauthorized immigration, the economic realities of that process, the number of jobs that create the incentives for such actions, the merits of guest worker programs and the value of providing educational and health benefits to residents and their children as opposed to leaving them illiterate and diseased.
But this is a far astray from the issue of athletic scholarships and diversity on college campuses . . .
so let's not go there . . .
just a suggestion . . . but I will certainly yield to the majority and dive right in if people want to travel this path
carl
