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've said it before...... any foreign athlete is welcome to come over to the US and train on any college team as a walk on and pay their own way. If they want great training and better depth in the programs they face on their own turf, they are more than welcome. DO NOT, however, give one dime of athletic scholarship money to foreign athletes over US talent. And we all know once the money dries up the foreign interest will do the same.
Fact is, the ICAA last weekend should've run two sets of point scores. One for the Americans and one for the foreigners. My Texas boys would've moved up considerably. Next year, my Horns are taking it back for the Collegiate Americans !
Face it, this is not the 1970s. The US doesn't own all the events at the Olympics any more. To train foreigners and let them go back and represent their own countries at the Games is a kin to aiding the enemy. Don't be stupid. The Brits, Aussies, Germans, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Italians and South Africans can keep and train their athletes using their own programs. They obviously have the talent.
Kiwi... don't be naive. The reason foreign athletes are recruited is that the coach has difficulty grabbing the guys he wants domestically and gives up and turns abroad for better talent to save his own job.
John Smith
I've said it before...... any foreign athlete is welcome to come over to the US and train on any college team as a walk on and pay their own way. If they want great training and better depth in the programs they face on their own turf, they are more than welcome. DO NOT, however, give one dime of athletic scholarship money to foreign athletes over US talent. And we all know once the money dries up the foreign interest will do the same.
Fact is, the ICAA last weekend should've run two sets of point scores. One for the Americans and one for the foreigners. My Texas boys would've moved up considerably. Next year, my Horns are taking it back for the Collegiate Americans !
Face it, this is not the 1970s. The US doesn't own all the events at the Olympics any more. To train foreigners and let them go back and represent their own countries at the Games is a kin to aiding the enemy. Don't be stupid. The Brits, Aussies, Germans, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Italians and South Africans can keep and train their athletes using their own programs. They obviously have the talent.
Kiwi... don't be naive. The reason foreign athletes are recruited is that the coach has difficulty grabbing the guys he wants domestically and gives up and turns abroad for better talent to save his own job.
John Smith
