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 LindsayNB
You seem to be operating on the assumption that the foreign swimmers will come whether they get scholarships or not. Outlawing scholarships for foreign swimmers will almost certainly limit the number of such swimmers going to college in the US. You seem to believe the sole purpose of scholarships is to advance the US Olympic team, other people see broader purposes.
But ehoch posted the following:"The main reason international swimmers like going to US colleges is not the free education -- schools are basically for free in most European countries. The reason is the ability to combine school and swimming (or track and field, water polo, ....)."
Originally posted by LindsayNB
You seem to be operating on the assumption that the foreign swimmers will come whether they get scholarships or not. Outlawing scholarships for foreign swimmers will almost certainly limit the number of such swimmers going to college in the US. You seem to believe the sole purpose of scholarships is to advance the US Olympic team, other people see broader purposes.
But ehoch posted the following:"The main reason international swimmers like going to US colleges is not the free education -- schools are basically for free in most European countries. The reason is the ability to combine school and swimming (or track and field, water polo, ....)."
