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.
Originally posted by Phil Arcuni
For that matter, I resent it when Cal gives scholarships to Texan or North Carolinean swimmers. These scholarships are paid by *my* tax dollars, not theirs!
This is actually a pretty valid point. Since most universities rely on funding from state taxes, there really isn't any difference between giving a North Carolinian a scholarship to a California school versus a Lithuanian.
I hadn't contemplated this point.
Originally posted by Phil Arcuni
For that matter, I resent it when Cal gives scholarships to Texan or North Carolinean swimmers. These scholarships are paid by *my* tax dollars, not theirs!
This is actually a pretty valid point. Since most universities rely on funding from state taxes, there really isn't any difference between giving a North Carolinian a scholarship to a California school versus a Lithuanian.
I hadn't contemplated this point.
