WELCOME

The Stillwater Starz is a developmental summer swim team and a member of the Naperville Swim Conference (NSC). A volunteer-driven 501(c)(3) nonprofit, our mission is to develop confident, capable young swimmers and foster a love of competitive swimming in a safe, supportive, and fun environment.

Our swimmers range from 4-18 years of age, and most are residents of the Stillwater subdivision and other nearby communities in southwest Naperville, Plainfield, and Oswego. For our youngest swimmers, their time on the Starz is often their first experience with competitive swimming. It’s also where many of our returning swimmers, some of whom now swim year-round in club and school programs, got their start. Join us this summer, and find out what fun you can have when we shoot for the Starz together!

Starz Roundup: Sunday, June 15, 2025

Lea Fortkamp

Starz Roundup:

Sunday, June 15, 2025

 

Good Evening, Starz Families!

We’re gearing up for another busy week of Starz swimming. We have meets on Thursday and Saturday this week, but I’ll have more on those later in the email. First, a few announcements:

 

BIG FISH/LITTLE FISH

Our new big fish/little fish initiative is going swimmingly so far! Big fish have been working to introduce themselves to their little fish and provide a some help and encouragement. Little fish can return the favor by cheering for their big fish and asking lots of questions!

Curious about the goals of little fish/big fish? Want to check out this year’s big-and-little fish pairings? Read more HERE.

 

TEE SHIRT PICKUP

Those who attended Wednesday’s Picture Day have already received their 2025 team tee shirts. For those who didn’t make it to Picture Day, we have two remaining team pickup options:

  • Monday morning, at practices, from Asheley
  • Monday evening, between practice sessions, from Lea

If you’re unable to pick up at these times, please email me, and we can make different arrangements.

 

TIME DROP RECOGNITION

Winning is fun, but for most athletes, swimming is really a sport of individual, incremental improvements. A swimmer’s top competitor is always himself or herself.

Later this week, we’ll roll out posters that swimmers can use to track their time improvements. Every time a swimmer improves his or her time in an individual event, that swimmer will be awarded a star on our team charts. For every four time drops, swimmers will earn $1 in concessions cash for use at any Starz home meet. Swimmers love candy concessions cash, and it never expires! Concessions cash will be distributed via swimmer folders.

We’ll also recognize age groups for their collective improvements throughout the season. Stay tuned for more and watch for our time drop posters coming soon!

 

CHAMPIONSHIP MEETS: CLASSIC and CITY

Our 2025 swim season will conclude with two exciting championship meets in July.

CLASSIC: The Classic Championship meet, this year at Neuqua Valley High School, offers exciting, big meet competition for 6U swimmers and 7/8, 9/10, and 11/12 swimmers without City-qualifying times. If your 6U-11/12 swimmer competes in three or more regular season meets and hasn't earned City-qualifying times (see below), he or she is eligible to compete in this championship meet!

CITY: The City Championship meet, this year at Naperville Central High School, brings together the fastest swimmers in the City for some of the most thrilling races of the year. If your 7/8, 9/10, or 11/12 swimmer has earned one or more City-qualifying times, or if you have a 13/14 or 15-18 swimmer, and if your swimmer has competed in three or more regular season meets, he or she is eligible to compete in the City Championship!

The Starz’ goal is to field a full team, with all individual and relay events covered, at BOTH of these incredible meets. Your swimmers work hard all season for the awards, excitement, and camaraderie these two meets offer; there’s no better way to end the season. Competing at a championship meet is an honor, and your swimmer’s participation helps our team; please ONLY decline participation if your swimmer will be out of town.

Later this week, the Classic and City Championship meets will open for declarations on our website and the SportsEngineMotion app. Which meet is right for your swimmer? Check HERE for more details.

 

CITY CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

We’re pleased to announce that 45 Starz swimmers have already time-qualified for participation in the City Championship meet! Congratulations, swimmers! Find our City qualifiers HERE. This list will grow, and it will be updated throughout the season. It’s also posted on our website.

 

MEET TIPS from the COACHING STAFF

  • Positive Check-In went more smoothly at White Eagle this weekend. Parents, thanks for your help!

 

  • If your swimmer is declared for a meet but last-minute illness or another emergency makes it impossible for him or her to compete, PLEASE reach out to Head Coach Mary as soon as possible to let her know. If we don’t hear from you, we often spend valuable time frantically searching for your swimmer at the meet in the hope that we can avoid scratching him or her. This is time that could be spent overseeing warmup or helping other swimmers.

 

  • Please continue to check the event listing/check-in sheets carefully to be sure that you’ve noted ALL your swimmer’s events—including (maybe ESPECIALLY) relays. If you must leave the meet before it is complete, please ask your swimmers to check out with Coach Mary, Coach Gabe, or Coach Hannah. This extra step can help avoid missed relays that you might have overlooked at check-in time.

 

  • At home meets, we will begin posting freestyle relay swimmer names on a board by the exit to our team area (near the gazebo). At away meets, this list will be by our team flag. If your swimmer’s name appears on this list, he or she is in a freestyle relay and should not leave the meet until that relay event is complete.

 

  • If a parent is scheduled to work a meet job and encounters an unforseen conflict, it is his or her responsibility to find a sub. The parent can either arrange a job swap with another team parent OR use the proxy list posted on our website to hire a local teen to work on his or her behalf. There is a Facebook group (search Starz Job Swap) that you can search for and join that has been helpful in the past. Unfortunately, Asheley cannot facilitate job swaps. If a job is missed, a $100 missed jobs fee will be assessed your credit card on file. No one enjoys this, so please do all that you can to work your four regular season jobs as planned. This ensures that weight of running meets is shared equally by all.

 

WHITE EAGLE RECAP

The Starz came out on top in our Saturday meet with White Eagle. I love when we swim neighboring teams! Many of our age group and senior swimmers have friends on White Eagle’s team whom they know well from school and club swimming. This makes a summer meet even more fun than usual!

In addition to the team win, Starz swimmers notched 45 new best times in their second regular season meet—a very impressive number. Let’s keep pushing as we head into a new week!

 

UPCOMING MEETS

THURSDAY:

AWAY at HOBSON WEST

Positive Check-In. Opens:

4:30 p.m.

Positive Check-In Closes/Warmups Begin:

4:45 p.m. (late arrivals will be scratched)

Worker Check-In w/ Asheley:

4:30-4:45 p.m., following swimmer check-in (look for the Stillwater flag)

Meet Start:

5:30 p.m.

 

SATURDAY:

AWAY at NAPERVILLE TENNIS CLUB

Positive Check-In. Opens:

7:30 a.m.

Positive Check-In Closes/Warmups Begin:

7:45 a.m. (late arrivals will be scratched)

Worker Check-In w/ Asheley:

7:30-7:45 a.m., following swimmer check-in (look for the Stillwater flag)

Meet Start:

8:00 a.m.

 

UPCOMING DECLARATION DEADLINES

HOME vs. CENTENNIAL BEACH

Tuesday, June 24

DECLARATIONS CLOSE: Tuesday, June 17

 

SOUTH SIDE INVITATIONAL at ASHBURY

(7/8, 9/10, 11/12, and 13/14 swimmers only)

Thursday, June 26

DECLARATIONS CLOSE: Thursday, June 19

 

Please declare for all remaining meets ASAP; Classic and City declarations will open SOON!

 

That’s it for tonight. Have a great evening, and Happy Father’s Day to all our dedicated swim dads!

 

Lea

Stillwater Starz Parent Board