Yesterday The Wall Street Journal brought this story on how some American coaches including Rowdy Gaines cry foul over NCAA teams subsidizing world-class instructions for foreign Olympians, also called ‘the enemy’. Naming athletes like New Zealand swimmer Lauren Boyle and Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry. My first reaction was, ‘well, your loss’, knowing that many an American college would love to have swimmers like our Pál Joensen setting the pace during endurance sets.
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Others have gone to greater lengths, Casey Barrett of Caps and Goggles suggesting as a former ‘enemy’ that, yes, by going to the States, foreigners also improve all those young entitled American kids around them. The American Swimming Coaches Association ASCA outright condemning the article in an open letter, and SwimNews seemingly agreeing.
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I don’t know, when it comes to actual scholarships, it must be up to the Americans to decide if it is worth it or not. And if not, I expect an immediate improvement in for instance the European training environments, with all our champions staying at home :-)
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