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, I tried gently suggesting. Didn't register, so let me rephrase my remarks with the sharp edges exposed.
I am amazed at the hypocritical sense of entitlement in some people. The people who feel they've been gypped out of a swimming scholarship have been the fastest swimmers on their team for most of their careers. (Memo to swimmers who are not the fastest kids on their club or high school team: you have no shot at a swimming scholarship, with or without foreign swimmers. There are more roster positions in major league baseball or the NFL than there are Div I swimming scholarships. We could take away every single scholarship from a non-U.S. citizen, and you would still not get one. Please stop kidding everyone.) They have benefitted from being the fastest kid on the team during most of their careers. Coaches cater to their swimming goals (if not downright kiss their backsides) and give them more attention. The whole swimming system is about draping gold medals around their necks and sticking trophies in their hands, and generally telling them what terrific people they are because they swim faster than everyone else.
OK, fair enough, that is what competitive sports are all about. But now finally, as they wait for Div I colleges to bestow upon them further benefits not available to everyone else, they suddenly encounter something new. There is someone else faster than them, and darn it, I want an exception to the rule the fastest swimmer wins to take care of ME. The rest of us who qualify as prelims cannon fodder would call this experience REALITY! Get used to it. Everyone, even world record holders, eventually lose to someone else. Even if they retire at the top, eventually some dude from California, or Queensland breaks their old record.
Let's explore the idea that the people who allegedly pay the bills deserve special consideration for athletic scholarships. Let's talk about Indiana, a public University that receives substantial funding from the tax payers of Indiana. Was it inappropriate for Doc Counsilman to offer Mark Spitz, a Californian whose parents paid taxes to California not Indiana, a scholarship rather than the fastest Indianan he could find? Please note, the case for reserving athletic scholarships at publically funded universities to State residents is STRONGER than what we have been discussing here. In that case you can trace funding directly to a State's taxpayers. This is a much more direct than the link U.S. citizens have to the funding for all Div I universities, public or private.
Bottom line: you have lived in a system that gives you special benefits for being the fastest swimmer, without regard for "other factors." Don't try to change the rules the first time you don't like fastest swimmer wins.
Matt
OK, I tried gently suggesting. Didn't register, so let me rephrase my remarks with the sharp edges exposed.
I am amazed at the hypocritical sense of entitlement in some people. The people who feel they've been gypped out of a swimming scholarship have been the fastest swimmers on their team for most of their careers. (Memo to swimmers who are not the fastest kids on their club or high school team: you have no shot at a swimming scholarship, with or without foreign swimmers. There are more roster positions in major league baseball or the NFL than there are Div I swimming scholarships. We could take away every single scholarship from a non-U.S. citizen, and you would still not get one. Please stop kidding everyone.) They have benefitted from being the fastest kid on the team during most of their careers. Coaches cater to their swimming goals (if not downright kiss their backsides) and give them more attention. The whole swimming system is about draping gold medals around their necks and sticking trophies in their hands, and generally telling them what terrific people they are because they swim faster than everyone else.
OK, fair enough, that is what competitive sports are all about. But now finally, as they wait for Div I colleges to bestow upon them further benefits not available to everyone else, they suddenly encounter something new. There is someone else faster than them, and darn it, I want an exception to the rule the fastest swimmer wins to take care of ME. The rest of us who qualify as prelims cannon fodder would call this experience REALITY! Get used to it. Everyone, even world record holders, eventually lose to someone else. Even if they retire at the top, eventually some dude from California, or Queensland breaks their old record.
Let's explore the idea that the people who allegedly pay the bills deserve special consideration for athletic scholarships. Let's talk about Indiana, a public University that receives substantial funding from the tax payers of Indiana. Was it inappropriate for Doc Counsilman to offer Mark Spitz, a Californian whose parents paid taxes to California not Indiana, a scholarship rather than the fastest Indianan he could find? Please note, the case for reserving athletic scholarships at publically funded universities to State residents is STRONGER than what we have been discussing here. In that case you can trace funding directly to a State's taxpayers. This is a much more direct than the link U.S. citizens have to the funding for all Div I universities, public or private.
Bottom line: you have lived in a system that gives you special benefits for being the fastest swimmer, without regard for "other factors." Don't try to change the rules the first time you don't like fastest swimmer wins.
Matt
