As seen on Swiminfo today.......so much for citizenship eh?! And we complain about masters "superteams"!
Draganja Changing Allegiances to Qatar
ZAGREB, Croatia, December 7. WHILE South Africa’s Roland Schoeman has spurned an offer to switch his allegiance to Qatar, the same cannot be said for Croatian Duje Draganja. The sprint sensation, a 24-year-old, recently accepted a lucrative offer to swim for the Middle Eastern nation, which has been chasing high-profile athletes by offering significant sums of money.
Before accepting the offer from Qatar, which is believed to be at least $1 million, Draganja gave Croatian swimming officials the opportunity to keep him swimming under his homeland’s flag. Ultimately, though, the Arab nation won out and Draganja is expected to race for Qatar at next year’s World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, China.
Here's my one comment on the situation:
If Lezak, Crocker, Phelps and Walker trained with the four South Africans for a year and made a more level playing field, I bet the South Africans still would have won. They were just that good.
The Americans just weren't as well prepared for the relay as the South Africans. From what I understand, the South Africans had been working on winning since 2002. The Americans probably didn't prepare for it until about three weeks after Trials.
I understand John's desire to bring the 400 free relay back to the States, but the swimmers have to be prepared for it. I bet this is why they lost in 2000. The Australians weren't just going after Gary Hall's comments. They got together and got pumped up for it. The Americans were just cocky and too confident. When Klim set the world record leading off, they didn't know how to bounce back and win, like they could have.
Just because someone's training in the US doesn't automatically mean they're better than you. They just have more to prove because they sacrificed a lot to get where they are. Take Stephen Parry, who almost took down Michael Phelps in the 200 fly. Coming from Britain to train in Florida was probably a big step, and he made the most of it. I say good for him, as well as good for Markus Rogan (even though he trains/trained at Stanford), Vlad Polyakov, Simon Burnett and others.
As far as representing another country at an international meet, I think that's not a good idea. Duje says he will always be Croatian. What will he do when/if he wins at Worlds or Olympics and they play the Qatar anthem? Will he just play the Croatian anthem in his head? Blech.
Here's my one comment on the situation:
If Lezak, Crocker, Phelps and Walker trained with the four South Africans for a year and made a more level playing field, I bet the South Africans still would have won. They were just that good.
The Americans just weren't as well prepared for the relay as the South Africans. From what I understand, the South Africans had been working on winning since 2002. The Americans probably didn't prepare for it until about three weeks after Trials.
I understand John's desire to bring the 400 free relay back to the States, but the swimmers have to be prepared for it. I bet this is why they lost in 2000. The Australians weren't just going after Gary Hall's comments. They got together and got pumped up for it. The Americans were just cocky and too confident. When Klim set the world record leading off, they didn't know how to bounce back and win, like they could have.
Just because someone's training in the US doesn't automatically mean they're better than you. They just have more to prove because they sacrificed a lot to get where they are. Take Stephen Parry, who almost took down Michael Phelps in the 200 fly. Coming from Britain to train in Florida was probably a big step, and he made the most of it. I say good for him, as well as good for Markus Rogan (even though he trains/trained at Stanford), Vlad Polyakov, Simon Burnett and others.
As far as representing another country at an international meet, I think that's not a good idea. Duje says he will always be Croatian. What will he do when/if he wins at Worlds or Olympics and they play the Qatar anthem? Will he just play the Croatian anthem in his head? Blech.
