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.
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Former Member
Originally posted by tjburk
Alright, I have sat back and read this from beginning to end now. You guys and girls continue to amaze me. It is like listening to the primaries all over again. The diversity of this country is EXACTLY what made this country great! I will never argue against that, heck look at my last name. What I will argue, is exactly what Tom has stated from the beginning. It used to be an honor not a right to become a US citizen. Some immigrants will tell you that the day they EARNED their citizenship was the greatest day of their life. With that said, I agree with Tom...let anybody and everybody that wants to come to this country come.....LEGALLY! That would include athletes who want to train at our colleges! If you want to accept a scholarship you need to be a citizen. Harsh? Narrow minded? Guilty! Guilty! And Guilty again! If you dont' want to become a citizen, you are still more then welcome to come and train....but you need to be funded by the Olympic Team from the country that you will swim for at the end of the day!
This is of course...My Own Humble Opinion!
But it is extremely hard to get a citizenship now. Just look at the woman who is an ice dancer from Canada. She has been trying for about 10 yrs. Also, if you come on a student visa, you are almost garaunteed not to be allowed to get your citizenship before your visa expires. So you'll have to go back to your country & tell them you want a visa to come to the US so you can become a US citizen. But that's not an offical reason to grant a visa. It is extremely difficult to gety a student visa in the first place from many countries becaseu they are afraid you won't come back!!!!!!!!!
Originally posted by tjburk
Alright, I have sat back and read this from beginning to end now. You guys and girls continue to amaze me. It is like listening to the primaries all over again. The diversity of this country is EXACTLY what made this country great! I will never argue against that, heck look at my last name. What I will argue, is exactly what Tom has stated from the beginning. It used to be an honor not a right to become a US citizen. Some immigrants will tell you that the day they EARNED their citizenship was the greatest day of their life. With that said, I agree with Tom...let anybody and everybody that wants to come to this country come.....LEGALLY! That would include athletes who want to train at our colleges! If you want to accept a scholarship you need to be a citizen. Harsh? Narrow minded? Guilty! Guilty! And Guilty again! If you dont' want to become a citizen, you are still more then welcome to come and train....but you need to be funded by the Olympic Team from the country that you will swim for at the end of the day!
This is of course...My Own Humble Opinion!
But it is extremely hard to get a citizenship now. Just look at the woman who is an ice dancer from Canada. She has been trying for about 10 yrs. Also, if you come on a student visa, you are almost garaunteed not to be allowed to get your citizenship before your visa expires. So you'll have to go back to your country & tell them you want a visa to come to the US so you can become a US citizen. But that's not an offical reason to grant a visa. It is extremely difficult to gety a student visa in the first place from many countries becaseu they are afraid you won't come back!!!!!!!!!
