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
The problem with your logic is that a college swimming program is not one and the same as the olympic team. Is a college coach obligated to put the interests of the Olympic team above the interests of his particular college program? Some people here seem to think so but others do not.
If USOC was paying to have foreign swimmers attend the US Olympic training camps I think your original statement would have greater logical validity.
The problem with your logic is that a college swimming program is not one and the same as the olympic team. Is a college coach obligated to put the interests of the Olympic team above the interests of his particular college program? Some people here seem to think so but others do not.
If USOC was paying to have foreign swimmers attend the US Olympic training camps I think your original statement would have greater logical validity.