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
Like it or not athletic scholarships are primarily for advancing the sporting success of the school. They are a reward to the athlete for posessing an obvious talent, hardwork and promise of good success and potential within the sport. They are NOT a reflection of academic prowess. One would hope that the athlete would use them wisely for scholastic endeavors to help professional advancement later in life, but this is NOT the motive behind an athletic scholarship.
Don't kid yourself. The coach wants to lure talent and the ability to further his team and his own career in a given sport. This formula and pursuit does help lead to Olympic acheivements.
Handing over this money over to foreigners without citizenship is a slap in the face to American kids training hard for the financial opportunity.
Foreigners can swim on the team of their choice on their own dime.
John Smith
Like it or not athletic scholarships are primarily for advancing the sporting success of the school. They are a reward to the athlete for posessing an obvious talent, hardwork and promise of good success and potential within the sport. They are NOT a reflection of academic prowess. One would hope that the athlete would use them wisely for scholastic endeavors to help professional advancement later in life, but this is NOT the motive behind an athletic scholarship.
Don't kid yourself. The coach wants to lure talent and the ability to further his team and his own career in a given sport. This formula and pursuit does help lead to Olympic acheivements.
Handing over this money over to foreigners without citizenship is a slap in the face to American kids training hard for the financial opportunity.
Foreigners can swim on the team of their choice on their own dime.
John Smith
