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.
Aquageek:
This sounds like the pot calling the kettle black ("the Smiths have egos larger than Texas). Were you the evil villain, no doubt with healthy shoulders, that told me I could never swim "properly if I used fins in practice" I think it was you! At the risk of sparking too much controvery, what's wrong with TI (apart from its possible non-application to caffeine laden sprints by weight lifters)? Wait a minute, I hope I'm not high-jacking another thread. People will think I'm evil too.
Aquageek:
This sounds like the pot calling the kettle black ("the Smiths have egos larger than Texas). Were you the evil villain, no doubt with healthy shoulders, that told me I could never swim "properly if I used fins in practice" I think it was you! At the risk of sparking too much controvery, what's wrong with TI (apart from its possible non-application to caffeine laden sprints by weight lifters)? Wait a minute, I hope I'm not high-jacking another thread. People will think I'm evil too.