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.
Very difficult to follow this post.....but here are some thoughts.
I coached Division I swimming for over 10 years. In that time I had several American swimmers and a good amount of foriegn swimmer on my teams. There were many different reason why these swimmers participated on my team.
1. It was rare, maybe one of two swimmers over my entire career, that received a "full" ride scholarship. Most athletes were on partial scholarships and had to find funding from other areas (parents, grants, work, etc).
2. I would have to say in general terms that I recruited for American swimmers first. They are easier to get into school, it is more cost effective to recruit them, and there are many more American athletes to choose from. Being a midlevel division one school, I had many top level American athletes decide not to attend my school because the wanted to go to a top ten school on a lesser or no scholarship situation. "Many American athletes pass on money to train with better programs". With this in mind, I wouldn't award a scholarship to an American athlete that didn't meet my minimal guidelines for a scholarship.
3. I had foriegn athletes walk on to my program or have very little scholarship. My point being, that all foriegn athletes don't come here just to gain America training. They are here for an education. Most of the foreign athletes were better students than there America counter parts. Most of my foreign athletes went on to graduate school and paid for it themselves.
4. I also found it interesting that most of the foreign athletes could get a free education back home at their universities. They all wanted to come to America, because they got the best opportunity here, plus they got to keep swimming.
5. I find it interesting that American is one of the only counties in the world that ties it's sport with it's education programs. Sometimes I really wonder why our universities haven't gotten out of the sports business and focused on pure education. Most athletic departments lose money. I really think sports would be better off away from education and left to find a way to survive on its own. (This is a whole other subject to be discuss later).
This is a difficult topic and I understand most of the viewpoints on this forum. It will be interesting to see where this goes in the future.
Very difficult to follow this post.....but here are some thoughts.
I coached Division I swimming for over 10 years. In that time I had several American swimmers and a good amount of foriegn swimmer on my teams. There were many different reason why these swimmers participated on my team.
1. It was rare, maybe one of two swimmers over my entire career, that received a "full" ride scholarship. Most athletes were on partial scholarships and had to find funding from other areas (parents, grants, work, etc).
2. I would have to say in general terms that I recruited for American swimmers first. They are easier to get into school, it is more cost effective to recruit them, and there are many more American athletes to choose from. Being a midlevel division one school, I had many top level American athletes decide not to attend my school because the wanted to go to a top ten school on a lesser or no scholarship situation. "Many American athletes pass on money to train with better programs". With this in mind, I wouldn't award a scholarship to an American athlete that didn't meet my minimal guidelines for a scholarship.
3. I had foriegn athletes walk on to my program or have very little scholarship. My point being, that all foriegn athletes don't come here just to gain America training. They are here for an education. Most of the foreign athletes were better students than there America counter parts. Most of my foreign athletes went on to graduate school and paid for it themselves.
4. I also found it interesting that most of the foreign athletes could get a free education back home at their universities. They all wanted to come to America, because they got the best opportunity here, plus they got to keep swimming.
5. I find it interesting that American is one of the only counties in the world that ties it's sport with it's education programs. Sometimes I really wonder why our universities haven't gotten out of the sports business and focused on pure education. Most athletic departments lose money. I really think sports would be better off away from education and left to find a way to survive on its own. (This is a whole other subject to be discuss later).
This is a difficult topic and I understand most of the viewpoints on this forum. It will be interesting to see where this goes in the future.
