Foreign swimmers training in the U.S.

Former Member
Former Member
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
  • Originally posted by Paul Smith Geek....if she comes it will be one less and thats one to many. OK, so let's assume you are corect. The scholarship she will take is for a US swimmer that is not on the elite level, probably the last person offered the scholarship, right? But, what you fail, again, to realize is that every single US swimmer on her college team will now train next to an Olympian every single day. This ultimately MAY drive them to perform better, possibly at the Olympic level, which only benefits US swimming. Oh, and btw, I've been taking a kick-boxing class lately so when you and the other Smith come to flog me, beware of my new-found sucker punch!
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  • Originally posted by Paul Smith Geek....if she comes it will be one less and thats one to many. OK, so let's assume you are corect. The scholarship she will take is for a US swimmer that is not on the elite level, probably the last person offered the scholarship, right? But, what you fail, again, to realize is that every single US swimmer on her college team will now train next to an Olympian every single day. This ultimately MAY drive them to perform better, possibly at the Olympic level, which only benefits US swimming. Oh, and btw, I've been taking a kick-boxing class lately so when you and the other Smith come to flog me, beware of my new-found sucker punch!
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