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
Lezak has consistently proven that he cannot compete in major international competition. (His recent win in Korea proves my point) If the USA is relying on Jason in 2008, our country is in trouble unless he changes over the next two years. If you go back and look at his Olympic splits, he never was in the race as he went out slow! Truly, that strategy is so ridiculous it borders on insanity. If one wanted to "save", one would go out fast and shut it down when advancement was insured, rather than try to accelerate when everyone is blowing by you with meters to go!
Crocker was ill and has proven since the Olympics what he can do when healthy. His recent 42.6 100 yard freestyle at The Texas Invitational demonstrates his capability when healthy and unshaved unlike his relay split, which was the slowest at the Olympics. His world record last summer in the 100 meter fly leaves no doubt.
Hansen also proved himself last summer by winning 3 golds at the World Champonships.
My recollection is this thread started with foreigners training in our college system. Simply put, we trained the majority part of the South African winning 400 meter relay or Arizona. And, our sprinter outlook for 2008 looks bleak, unless Jones, Graves, Weber-Gale or someone steps up! On the men's side, at 9.9 scholarships, it is, at the least, painful to see these scholarships go to foreigners but with the sport of swimming dying in America, who can blame a Mark Shubert for going out and getting Mellouli? Or, who can blame Florida for probably have 5 languages spoken in their locker room? It is my opinion that the problem at the least partially rests with USS swimming and the poor vision that it previously has implemented dating back more than a decade. The individuals who implemented a flawed vision no longer hold positions of power, but the "hang over" lingers. If grass root age group swimming can be remodeled, maybe more "athletes" will be available for the college coaches to select from. But based on the current age group structure, mom and dad shall continue to head to soccer tournaments and not marathon age group swimming meets lasting days, which leave college coaches with less talent to choose from. At least, to my knowledge, down south at the University of Texas, where there is not snow and ice like outside my window, only Americans and an occassional dual citizen are recruited, but again, if a guy can go 18.7 like Dave Marsh's Frenchman, I support Dave Marsh!
And Geek, if you have not figured it out yet, the USA is in decline just like France and England! For the past 5 centuries, the country that began a century as the world superpower NEVER ended the century as the world superpower.
Lezak has consistently proven that he cannot compete in major international competition. (His recent win in Korea proves my point) If the USA is relying on Jason in 2008, our country is in trouble unless he changes over the next two years. If you go back and look at his Olympic splits, he never was in the race as he went out slow! Truly, that strategy is so ridiculous it borders on insanity. If one wanted to "save", one would go out fast and shut it down when advancement was insured, rather than try to accelerate when everyone is blowing by you with meters to go!
Crocker was ill and has proven since the Olympics what he can do when healthy. His recent 42.6 100 yard freestyle at The Texas Invitational demonstrates his capability when healthy and unshaved unlike his relay split, which was the slowest at the Olympics. His world record last summer in the 100 meter fly leaves no doubt.
Hansen also proved himself last summer by winning 3 golds at the World Champonships.
My recollection is this thread started with foreigners training in our college system. Simply put, we trained the majority part of the South African winning 400 meter relay or Arizona. And, our sprinter outlook for 2008 looks bleak, unless Jones, Graves, Weber-Gale or someone steps up! On the men's side, at 9.9 scholarships, it is, at the least, painful to see these scholarships go to foreigners but with the sport of swimming dying in America, who can blame a Mark Shubert for going out and getting Mellouli? Or, who can blame Florida for probably have 5 languages spoken in their locker room? It is my opinion that the problem at the least partially rests with USS swimming and the poor vision that it previously has implemented dating back more than a decade. The individuals who implemented a flawed vision no longer hold positions of power, but the "hang over" lingers. If grass root age group swimming can be remodeled, maybe more "athletes" will be available for the college coaches to select from. But based on the current age group structure, mom and dad shall continue to head to soccer tournaments and not marathon age group swimming meets lasting days, which leave college coaches with less talent to choose from. At least, to my knowledge, down south at the University of Texas, where there is not snow and ice like outside my window, only Americans and an occassional dual citizen are recruited, but again, if a guy can go 18.7 like Dave Marsh's Frenchman, I support Dave Marsh!
And Geek, if you have not figured it out yet, the USA is in decline just like France and England! For the past 5 centuries, the country that began a century as the world superpower NEVER ended the century as the world superpower.
