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.
Originally posted by TheGoodSmith
Paul..... Geek's not coming to Coral Springs. You and I may have to take a road trip north for a surprise visit. He'll either buy us a round as a gesture of apology for all the abuse this past year, or we'll enroll him as a foreign athlete transfer to Arizona under an assumed name..... say........ "Vladimir Scholarshipsky".
If you are gonna use my assumed name, please get it right. It's Francois Boudelaire.
Oh, and beers are on me, along with all the Kleenex that you twins will need as you become inconsolable about the foreign swimmers. That will probably be worse than watching a *** Vermeil retirement news conference.
Originally posted by TheGoodSmith
Paul..... Geek's not coming to Coral Springs. You and I may have to take a road trip north for a surprise visit. He'll either buy us a round as a gesture of apology for all the abuse this past year, or we'll enroll him as a foreign athlete transfer to Arizona under an assumed name..... say........ "Vladimir Scholarshipsky".
If you are gonna use my assumed name, please get it right. It's Francois Boudelaire.
Oh, and beers are on me, along with all the Kleenex that you twins will need as you become inconsolable about the foreign swimmers. That will probably be worse than watching a *** Vermeil retirement news conference.