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
Originally posted by Tom Ellison
"and should give that money to USA swimmers that will represent this country in the BIG SHOW!
....just ask any top ranked college swimmer in the USA what his or her ultimate goal is "in swimming"....and I bet dollars to donuts they tell you...TO SWIM IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES!
This is the part I really don't get -- why to you keep saying to give the money to US swimmers that will go on to the Olympics. The swimmers that have a shot at the Olympics will get scholarships. You can't argue with that.
There are maybe 10 new scholarships a year (each men / women) going to international swimmers -- the US "replacements" for these scholarships would never make the US Olympic team. The choice for the university is to either give a scholarship to a French Olympian going 43.0 in the 100 Free or to a US swimmer going 45.5 (and the closest he will get to the Olympics is his French teammate).
The other thing that bothers me is that US colleges would have the obligation to "promote America". Their focus is eduaction and that's what it should be. First of all -- it's not your money to spend -- it has been given to the university. They feel it is a wise investment to give a scholarship to the very best athletes in the world (not in the US -- in the world). And second -- America is by far the best country in the world in swimming -- are you still bitter about losing the 4x100 Free relay. Even though all the South-Africans winning the realy train in the US -- NONE of the dutch, who got 2nd train in the US.
Also - I think you should kick out Jonnty Skinner, Sergio Lopez, and Jon Urbancek - I don't want any foreign coaches promoting America by making American swimmers faster. In fact US swimmers coached by foreign coaches should not get scholarships -- they had an unfair advantage -- they are foreign. While we are at it -- take away the medals from Lenny -- he was not born here either -- he did promote the US by becoming a citizen, but he has an accent, so that does not promote American language.
Also -since somebody did asked -- I came here at age 19 (instead of 18) on a swimming scholarship -- because I had to complete my military service.
Originally posted by Tom Ellison
"and should give that money to USA swimmers that will represent this country in the BIG SHOW!
....just ask any top ranked college swimmer in the USA what his or her ultimate goal is "in swimming"....and I bet dollars to donuts they tell you...TO SWIM IN THE OLYMPIC GAMES!
This is the part I really don't get -- why to you keep saying to give the money to US swimmers that will go on to the Olympics. The swimmers that have a shot at the Olympics will get scholarships. You can't argue with that.
There are maybe 10 new scholarships a year (each men / women) going to international swimmers -- the US "replacements" for these scholarships would never make the US Olympic team. The choice for the university is to either give a scholarship to a French Olympian going 43.0 in the 100 Free or to a US swimmer going 45.5 (and the closest he will get to the Olympics is his French teammate).
The other thing that bothers me is that US colleges would have the obligation to "promote America". Their focus is eduaction and that's what it should be. First of all -- it's not your money to spend -- it has been given to the university. They feel it is a wise investment to give a scholarship to the very best athletes in the world (not in the US -- in the world). And second -- America is by far the best country in the world in swimming -- are you still bitter about losing the 4x100 Free relay. Even though all the South-Africans winning the realy train in the US -- NONE of the dutch, who got 2nd train in the US.
Also - I think you should kick out Jonnty Skinner, Sergio Lopez, and Jon Urbancek - I don't want any foreign coaches promoting America by making American swimmers faster. In fact US swimmers coached by foreign coaches should not get scholarships -- they had an unfair advantage -- they are foreign. While we are at it -- take away the medals from Lenny -- he was not born here either -- he did promote the US by becoming a citizen, but he has an accent, so that does not promote American language.
Also -since somebody did asked -- I came here at age 19 (instead of 18) on a swimming scholarship -- because I had to complete my military service.
