Looks like the number of foreign athletes taking scholarship money away from home grown kids has surged in recent years. 2/3rds are in Division I schools.
I wouldn't dream of accusing lazy coaches who don't recruit well of using "hired guns" from other countries to win championships. I'm sure they are only accepting foreign athletes for the altruistic good of helping to diversify the student body..... :-)
Influx of foreigners presents new challenges for NCAA
www.usatoday.com/.../2008-10-01-foreign-influx_N.htm
Having been a USA coach in the past, I can see the concern. One thing that drives and motivates kids in high school to get up at 4:30 in the morning after having done a workout just 12 hours before is the idea that they may get a scholarship to swim in college.
With the already small number of scholarships for swimming and the fact that some of them go to international students makes getting one to a top swimming school extremely difficult. I live in Alabama where the only two colleges in the state that offer a swim team (Div. I, II, or III) are Auburn and Alabama. I can't help but wonder sometimes if the reason why we have few boys in the sport here after 12 is because of the snowball's chance in hell of getting a swimming scholarship to a state school.
On the other hand, knowing how tough it is for a swimmer to get a swimming scholarship keeps USA coaches on their toes to produce swimmers good enough to get one. All USA coaches need to re-examine their programs and ask why colleges are having to recruit swimmers from other countries.
I also believe that there are more opportunities out there than folks realize. Coaches looking to help swimmers get scholarships need to do their homework and look around. As a coach, I was able to locate out-of-state schools that were willing to offer my swimmers scholarships. Also, Division III schools may not offer athletic scholarships, but many such schools will give a preference to swimmers in awarding academic scholarships.
Having been a USA coach in the past, I can see the concern. One thing that drives and motivates kids in high school to get up at 4:30 in the morning after having done a workout just 12 hours before is the idea that they may get a scholarship to swim in college.
With the already small number of scholarships for swimming and the fact that some of them go to international students makes getting one to a top swimming school extremely difficult. I live in Alabama where the only two colleges in the state that offer a swim team (Div. I, II, or III) are Auburn and Alabama. I can't help but wonder sometimes if the reason why we have few boys in the sport here after 12 is because of the snowball's chance in hell of getting a swimming scholarship to a state school.
On the other hand, knowing how tough it is for a swimmer to get a swimming scholarship keeps USA coaches on their toes to produce swimmers good enough to get one. All USA coaches need to re-examine their programs and ask why colleges are having to recruit swimmers from other countries.
I also believe that there are more opportunities out there than folks realize. Coaches looking to help swimmers get scholarships need to do their homework and look around. As a coach, I was able to locate out-of-state schools that were willing to offer my swimmers scholarships. Also, Division III schools may not offer athletic scholarships, but many such schools will give a preference to swimmers in awarding academic scholarships.
