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.
Several of you have pointed out the real reasons for welcoming swimmers from other countries to you ranks & files... besides "showing off" that grand American attribute of knowing how to pick and choose the "best and the better best"... no rinky-dink swimmers have scholarships.
But one thing I do know first hand, having assisted a swimmer in obtaining a full scholarship in the U.S.A., and that is that the State Department knows the benefits of exposing the American way of life to those who will eventually go back home and implement some of it back there.
Great export program.
Saludos,
David
ps - oh, USA, thanx for making it possible for us to win those medals...!!:lolup:
Several of you have pointed out the real reasons for welcoming swimmers from other countries to you ranks & files... besides "showing off" that grand American attribute of knowing how to pick and choose the "best and the better best"... no rinky-dink swimmers have scholarships.
But one thing I do know first hand, having assisted a swimmer in obtaining a full scholarship in the U.S.A., and that is that the State Department knows the benefits of exposing the American way of life to those who will eventually go back home and implement some of it back there.
Great export program.
Saludos,
David
ps - oh, USA, thanx for making it possible for us to win those medals...!!:lolup: