How many guys from other countries does it take to win a National Championship?
Good thing they all attended classes on campus the entire year..... :-)
Makes everyone feel proud to see the American Record holder on the 4th place podium.
Cavic totally could have made the US team because Crocker wasn't at his best. The worst was one year when the guy won the gold medal in some swimming event. He was an American citizen but represented Spain or some other European country. Well, at least, Matt Grevers "manned up" and swam the US trials when he easily could have represented Holland. I like Markus Rogan's approach. He lived in Austria til he was 12. Parents moved to the US but represented Austria in the International Competition. Unless you were born or lived in another country for a long time, you shouldn't be representing a country that you great great great grandparents came from!!
The flip side of this type of situation is what about the Serbian kid who can't come and live/train in this country and does his best given the limited resources he has...and is the 3rd fastest flyer...Cavic goes to the Olympics and this kid stays home. For every athlete who has grown up in this country with dual citizenship...was trained with US resources...and then figures out they can't make the US team so they go down the path of least resistence...a kid living in that other country gets displaced.
Paul - that's a nice reply. But just because these organizations work together, that does not mean they have the same goal. You simply feel that a goal of college swim teams should be to develop US Olympians and those silly college coaches just want to field the best team they can.
The recruiting actually makes no difference between US Olympians and "other Olympians" - that's something just some people like to track.
The recruiting actually makes no difference between US Olympians and "other Olympians" - that's something just some people like to track.
Well.... it's certainly tracked on NBC every 4 years..... and its a similar group of swimmers in the NCAAs.
I wonder, did Paul and Mr. Negative complain this much and this loudly win Arizona won the ncaa title last year? I counted 8 guys on the Arizona team that won last year that are FOREIGNERS. Seems a bit two faced to me.
Why is it each time Auburn wins, Paul gripes about them winning? Yet, Arizona wins using more non-americans than Auburn did this year, yet he and others did belly ache about that win. Seems a bit two-faced.
follow the money. thats all anybody cares about anymore. and who makes money in college swimming? not the university. not the athletes. only the coaches. the coaches dont care where the swimmers are from, they want to win to protect their jobs/bank accounts and most importantly their massive egos.
i agree with paul smith but i have to say ive been around these college swimmers and the foreign guys seem more mature, better work ethic, more dedication, etc....
if i were a college coach i would sign the guys that give me the best chance to win. the foreign guys just have that "it" factor. they arent geeks like some of these young americans. their mindset is different. maybe because they are on a mission to succeed in the US and plant roots here and remain after college, i dunno. i hate to say it but the americans seem like spoiled babies. case in point, phelps.....dude has a chip on his shoulder even after his success, i get the feeling he was a geek growing up now the fame has turned him into this "now im cool, everyone likes me" i wanna get back at everyone who flicked my ears kinda guy. very childish compared to foreign dudes.
sorry to rip on all of your guys hero. just the way i see things around here.
The vast majority of the people paying the bills at universities are not competitive swimmers and have no interest in the sport. They certainly don't put their money down expecting that it will be spent to improve the US Olympic Team.
They certainly don't put their money down expecting that it will be funnelled to individuals that don't stay in the US or willing to represent the US athletically either.
I can make a better case that the presence of foreign students (athletes or otherwise) has a more positive impact on the education of the general student than substituting him for a homegrown jock with sub-par admission statistics.
Or a kid from another country pushing out a homegrown kid with similar talent and the same dream.
Athletic scholarships are not a God-given right. If a homegrown talent wants one, he can swim fast enough to earn one. If he loves the sport and wants to swim in college, he can do so without one.
Unfortunately so many other countries do not offer the same financial opportunity to Americans despite your claims that they have so much to teach US programs. Feel free to come to the US and pursue your athletic dreams.... but do it on your own funds. If you want money from a US institutions, then stick around and make the team at the US Trials. Don't wimp out and go back to a supposed country of origin for the easy ticket to the Games based on your American training and financed education..... and if you can't find the courage to represent the US athletically, then at least acknowledge publicly your American coaches and programs. This recognition is so seldom done in international competition.
Like it or not, there is a huge link between NCAA and USA Swimming.............. Similar coaches.... same kids..... same dreams. The US Olympic coach is often an NCAA coach. He does not divide his brain in half in the summer.
our country is better than your country because we can produce more olympic swimming gold medals???????
seems like an argument that should be taking place in the school yard between (immature) third graders.
Sure, sure, more sour grapes. (Sorry Anna Lea, I couldn't resist...your team spanked my team pretty badly last year.)
No sour grapes here. I don't have a problem with foreign college athletes. Plus, last year's Kansas team had a foreign athlete (Sasha Kaun).
