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.
Mr Goodsmith:
I will admit that the USA was greased in Greece in the Mens 100 Free. I remember Jim Lampley, sports commentator for NBC pointing out that it was one of the all time lowest performances in the 100 Free because it was the first time the USA and no one in either the semi final and the final. He also stated that the present NBC color analyst for swimming, one Rowdy Gaines went a faster time (49.80) than Jason Lezek did swimming in the heats with a time of :49.87 for 21st place. Ian Crocker swam a :49.73 for a tie for 17th place and was suppose to have a swim off for the semi final but the DQ slip for George Bovell was not done correctly by FINA officials and he was reinstated to swim in the semi final knocking Ian Crocker to 17th.
This was one of the biggest suprises/flukes/upsets at the Olympics because Jason Lezak went a :48.17 at the Olympic Trials in Long Beach about 6 weeks earlier and at that time was the 2nd fastest time in history only behind Hoggie. Ian Crocker went :46.25 in the 100 Free SCM at the recent NCAA Championships to break Alexender Popov WR of :46.74. Obviously these guys did not live up to there potential and would have easily made the finals if they swam like they did previously. In fact if Jason would have done that :48.17 he would have tied for the Gold Medal. He just had a bad meet just like Brendan Hansen did. If Brandan would have gone the 2:09.04 at Long Beach instead of the 2:10.87 he did at Greece he would have won the Gold Medal regardless what Kitajimi does.
If you take this event plus the two relay losses out, the USA has not done that bad at the last 2 Olympics in sprint freestyle. Losing to Australia by .19 was considered a major upset and Australia didn't even make the final for this relay in 2004. If you take that :50.05 split away from the sick Crocker and if he would have swam to his potential the result of the relay might have been different. Also remember the slam dunk in the 50 Free with Hall/Ervin or Ervin/Hall in Sydney.
The USA has 5 swimmers in the 100 Meter Free in the current FINA World Rankings which is more than any other nation. Italy has 4 swimmers and they did not even make the final in Montreal.
I think all of the countries are real close now but I still believe that the USA has more depth than anyone in sprint free events.
Mr Goodsmith:
I will admit that the USA was greased in Greece in the Mens 100 Free. I remember Jim Lampley, sports commentator for NBC pointing out that it was one of the all time lowest performances in the 100 Free because it was the first time the USA and no one in either the semi final and the final. He also stated that the present NBC color analyst for swimming, one Rowdy Gaines went a faster time (49.80) than Jason Lezek did swimming in the heats with a time of :49.87 for 21st place. Ian Crocker swam a :49.73 for a tie for 17th place and was suppose to have a swim off for the semi final but the DQ slip for George Bovell was not done correctly by FINA officials and he was reinstated to swim in the semi final knocking Ian Crocker to 17th.
This was one of the biggest suprises/flukes/upsets at the Olympics because Jason Lezak went a :48.17 at the Olympic Trials in Long Beach about 6 weeks earlier and at that time was the 2nd fastest time in history only behind Hoggie. Ian Crocker went :46.25 in the 100 Free SCM at the recent NCAA Championships to break Alexender Popov WR of :46.74. Obviously these guys did not live up to there potential and would have easily made the finals if they swam like they did previously. In fact if Jason would have done that :48.17 he would have tied for the Gold Medal. He just had a bad meet just like Brendan Hansen did. If Brandan would have gone the 2:09.04 at Long Beach instead of the 2:10.87 he did at Greece he would have won the Gold Medal regardless what Kitajimi does.
If you take this event plus the two relay losses out, the USA has not done that bad at the last 2 Olympics in sprint freestyle. Losing to Australia by .19 was considered a major upset and Australia didn't even make the final for this relay in 2004. If you take that :50.05 split away from the sick Crocker and if he would have swam to his potential the result of the relay might have been different. Also remember the slam dunk in the 50 Free with Hall/Ervin or Ervin/Hall in Sydney.
The USA has 5 swimmers in the 100 Meter Free in the current FINA World Rankings which is more than any other nation. Italy has 4 swimmers and they did not even make the final in Montreal.
I think all of the countries are real close now but I still believe that the USA has more depth than anyone in sprint free events.
