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
  • My opinion, since you have requested it and apparently like me in a cage, is that it's absolutely ridiculous for all you folks to be obsessed by something Hall did a few years ago. From where I swim, he's fantastic in my book and I'll overlook this in favor of the good he's doing. I mean, we have one guy or gal named Buffalo who has disowned Hall and others who feel drunken larceny is not as bad. I've been known to drunken buffoon from time to time, on the other hand.
Reply
  • My opinion, since you have requested it and apparently like me in a cage, is that it's absolutely ridiculous for all you folks to be obsessed by something Hall did a few years ago. From where I swim, he's fantastic in my book and I'll overlook this in favor of the good he's doing. I mean, we have one guy or gal named Buffalo who has disowned Hall and others who feel drunken larceny is not as bad. I've been known to drunken buffoon from time to time, on the other hand.
Children
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