Foreign swimmers training in the U.S.

Former Member
Former Member
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
    Former Member
    Frank, I've got to disagree with your assessment of the 400 free relay as this event is a barometer of our country's depth in sprint freestylers. We have been relatively weak in the sprint freestylers the last two Olympics. Relying on our oldest sprinter (Hall in the 50 free) is not impressive and shows that we are having some difficulties turning out as many great sprinters like we used to. The fact that we failed to place a SINGLE individual in the 100m free final was an absolute embarassment to the US in Greece. Think about it ....... NO ONE from the US in the finals in the 100m free. Jim Montgomery, Matt Biondi and Rowdy Gaines were probably suffering a mild stroke when they watched that event. It's unreal to fathom even when I think back about it today. This country needs more emphasis on short course, NCAA style pure sprint style atheticism in my opinion. Long course emphasis over the past decade or so has tapped our sprinter programs and emphasis. I have to disagree with you on the relay situation. I don't think anything is "under control" yet for the US. John Smith
Reply
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Frank, I've got to disagree with your assessment of the 400 free relay as this event is a barometer of our country's depth in sprint freestylers. We have been relatively weak in the sprint freestylers the last two Olympics. Relying on our oldest sprinter (Hall in the 50 free) is not impressive and shows that we are having some difficulties turning out as many great sprinters like we used to. The fact that we failed to place a SINGLE individual in the 100m free final was an absolute embarassment to the US in Greece. Think about it ....... NO ONE from the US in the finals in the 100m free. Jim Montgomery, Matt Biondi and Rowdy Gaines were probably suffering a mild stroke when they watched that event. It's unreal to fathom even when I think back about it today. This country needs more emphasis on short course, NCAA style pure sprint style atheticism in my opinion. Long course emphasis over the past decade or so has tapped our sprinter programs and emphasis. I have to disagree with you on the relay situation. I don't think anything is "under control" yet for the US. John Smith
Children
No Data