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.
After following NCAA's the last 3 days and reading the following @ swiminfo.....figured this may be a conversation worth continuning:
"ATLANTA, Georgia, March 25. THE team battle was decided, but there was still one relay to swim, and no one was conceding anything to anyone. With Auburn in lane 3 and Arizona in 4, the stage was set for a titanic 400 freestyle relay battle. It turned out to be all that...and more.
In an incredible, thrilling finish to a superb meet, Arizona nipped Auburn, 2:48.39 to 2:48.89.
Interestingly, three of the four Arizona swimmers and all four Auburn swimmers are foreigners."
One more point of interest, I heard from a friend of mine last night that one of the reasons the SEC has had such a strong presence of foreigners over the years is that the conference allows them to pay in state tuition after thier first year.....?
After following NCAA's the last 3 days and reading the following @ swiminfo.....figured this may be a conversation worth continuning:
"ATLANTA, Georgia, March 25. THE team battle was decided, but there was still one relay to swim, and no one was conceding anything to anyone. With Auburn in lane 3 and Arizona in 4, the stage was set for a titanic 400 freestyle relay battle. It turned out to be all that...and more.
In an incredible, thrilling finish to a superb meet, Arizona nipped Auburn, 2:48.39 to 2:48.89.
Interestingly, three of the four Arizona swimmers and all four Auburn swimmers are foreigners."
One more point of interest, I heard from a friend of mine last night that one of the reasons the SEC has had such a strong presence of foreigners over the years is that the conference allows them to pay in state tuition after thier first year.....?
