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.
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Originally posted by LindsayNB
SWrt Paul's argument that men's swimming is suffering from lack of scholarships because so many are going to foreign swimmers, it seems unlikely to me that boys are deciding whether or not to pursue swimming because they expect to be edged out for scholarships by a foreign swimmer. It just doesn't sound like the kind of mindset a potential world class swimmer is going to have.
This is an interesting thought.
Let's assume you have an 18 year old graduate who is a Junior National champion his Sr. year of high school. I would argue he is a potential world class swimmer. He gets offers from many Tier 2 schools but really thinks he could grow not going to a Tier 2 school where he is one of the top swimmers, but needs to go to a program where he will race every day those current world class swimmers. He really wants to go there, but loses his scholarship money (which he so desperately needs to afford that college) to an already world class swimmer from another country.
He goes on to that Tier 2 school and does pretty well. Not good enough to make an Olympic team but maintains his best times from High School but never really goes to that next level. It is pure speculation to imagine what he could have done at a Tier 1 school, but we know for sure he never got that chance because he lost the money he needed to another already world class athlete from a foreign country. I believe there are literally hundreds of stories like this.
It is unfortunate because as this happens, it works like a domino effect. The kid that could have gotten the Tier 2 scholarship moves down, until ultimately very talented athletes are forced out. So in contrast to your argument Lindsay, I do think it does have that effect as you go further and further down the food chain.
Originally posted by LindsayNB
SWrt Paul's argument that men's swimming is suffering from lack of scholarships because so many are going to foreign swimmers, it seems unlikely to me that boys are deciding whether or not to pursue swimming because they expect to be edged out for scholarships by a foreign swimmer. It just doesn't sound like the kind of mindset a potential world class swimmer is going to have.
This is an interesting thought.
Let's assume you have an 18 year old graduate who is a Junior National champion his Sr. year of high school. I would argue he is a potential world class swimmer. He gets offers from many Tier 2 schools but really thinks he could grow not going to a Tier 2 school where he is one of the top swimmers, but needs to go to a program where he will race every day those current world class swimmers. He really wants to go there, but loses his scholarship money (which he so desperately needs to afford that college) to an already world class swimmer from another country.
He goes on to that Tier 2 school and does pretty well. Not good enough to make an Olympic team but maintains his best times from High School but never really goes to that next level. It is pure speculation to imagine what he could have done at a Tier 1 school, but we know for sure he never got that chance because he lost the money he needed to another already world class athlete from a foreign country. I believe there are literally hundreds of stories like this.
It is unfortunate because as this happens, it works like a domino effect. The kid that could have gotten the Tier 2 scholarship moves down, until ultimately very talented athletes are forced out. So in contrast to your argument Lindsay, I do think it does have that effect as you go further and further down the food chain.
