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
I have two things to say about this.
1) My brother-in-law went to ASU. I can't even mention their swimming program to him wihtout him getting very angry. He played baseball there. He gets fund-raising letters allof the tiem about giving to the athletic program. He won't give a diem becasue they have so many foreign students on athletic scholarships inso many sports, not just swimming. He grew up in off-and-on in orphange. With out the scholarship money, he & his brothers wouldn't have been able to go to college. He especially thinks that for any school like ASU or Au to have crew is ridiculous.
2) As I've said before, the former AD at Knox College left to go baqck tyo work for the NCAA. His current job is to make sure that the foreign students coming to the US on scholarships have never been professionals in sports intheir home contries or eslwhere. This is a big issue especially involleyball, soccer and other sports that aren't big time money makers inthe US.
I really think that there should be some type of limit to thenumber of scholarships a school can give to foreigners. I think this is why smoe schools like Drury can get so many really good swimmers and gymnasts to go to a twon like Springfield, MO for college!!
I have two things to say about this.
1) My brother-in-law went to ASU. I can't even mention their swimming program to him wihtout him getting very angry. He played baseball there. He gets fund-raising letters allof the tiem about giving to the athletic program. He won't give a diem becasue they have so many foreign students on athletic scholarships inso many sports, not just swimming. He grew up in off-and-on in orphange. With out the scholarship money, he & his brothers wouldn't have been able to go to college. He especially thinks that for any school like ASU or Au to have crew is ridiculous.
2) As I've said before, the former AD at Knox College left to go baqck tyo work for the NCAA. His current job is to make sure that the foreign students coming to the US on scholarships have never been professionals in sports intheir home contries or eslwhere. This is a big issue especially involleyball, soccer and other sports that aren't big time money makers inthe US.
I really think that there should be some type of limit to thenumber of scholarships a school can give to foreigners. I think this is why smoe schools like Drury can get so many really good swimmers and gymnasts to go to a twon like Springfield, MO for college!!
