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
Sam,
What's worse..... ?
1. Being sent home because you took a local statue or artifact after drinking.
or
2. Not showing up to watch and support your own teamates swim.
Come on Sam.... what is it you usually say....... "you're all hat and no cattle" on this issue...... a couple of young americans out drinking and making a bad decision vs. a conscious decision to not show up to support Team USA because of being mad you didn't get selected to swim the finals on the relay.
John Smith
Sam,
What's worse..... ?
1. Being sent home because you took a local statue or artifact after drinking.
or
2. Not showing up to watch and support your own teamates swim.
Come on Sam.... what is it you usually say....... "you're all hat and no cattle" on this issue...... a couple of young americans out drinking and making a bad decision vs. a conscious decision to not show up to support Team USA because of being mad you didn't get selected to swim the finals on the relay.
John Smith