Starz Roundup: Classic Highlights, No-Meet Swim Teams, Upcoming Deadlines, and City Preview

Good Morning, Starz Families,

 

What a remarkable Classic Championship our Starz swimmers had!

Classic is a special meet; it puts the spotlight on our developing athletes, who often make the most sizable personal gains throughout the season. It’s thrilling to see these swimmers earning ribbons and recognition alongside their peers from throughout the conference.

The Starz finished 4^th in our session (2^nd boys, 5^th girls), and our points would have placed us 7^th among all 19 teams participating this year. Many of our swimmers took home multiple awards, and even more notched new personal bests in a pool that will, for many, be home to their future high school swimming memories.

Special thanks to our parent workers for supporting your swimmers' efforts this weekend and making this special meet possible. In particular, Carrie Blaine and Heather Spychala both stepped into supervisory conference roles at Classic and Soumya Shetty oversaw Hospitality, our team's conference-assigned area of responsibility. Thanks to them for their consistent willingness to do more than their fair share so that our swimmers will have the best possible experience!

You’ll find a full wrap-up of our Classic athletes’ performances at the end of this email, but please read through everything in-between first. There’s some important information you won’t want to miss.

 

 

What’s Next? Club Swimming or Year-Round Swim Conditioning!

By now, many Starz swimmers have registered and begun evaluations for our area's year-round club swimming programs. Not every swimmer—and not every family—feels ready to take that step, though. Did you know there’s an in-between?

Swim conditioning programs (sometimes called non-competitive swim teams) offer a way for summer swimmers to refine their technique and maintain swim fitness all year long while still affording time for other sports, activities, and play.

If you are excited by what you saw this season AND ESPECIALLY if your swimmer came out of Classic eager to continue, we strongly encourage you to check out the options below. Please talk with (or email) Coach Mary to learn more!
 

Momentum Swim Conditioning

North Central College and Central Park Pools

Momentum is a no-meets swim team/conditioning program that focuses on developing great technique in young swimmers. With the option to practice 1, 2, or 3 days per week and groups for swimmers as young as 7 all the way through high school, it’s a great fit for nearly any summer swimmer looking to improve. Plus, the coaching staff is made up of experienced NSC lead from Saybrook, Farmstead, and Naper Carriage Hill, so Momentum really knows what young athletes need to be competitive in summer swim. Head Coach Mary’s sister, Ruthy, leads the program.

The best part for parents? “No meets” means no jobs to work—and all of your weekends free! Fall registration opens August 1.

 

DuPage Swimming Center

Oakhurst Drive in Aurora

Many of you are probably familiar with DuPage Swimming Center’s group and private lesson programming, but did you know they also offer a noncompetitive (no meets) swim team, too? This might be a good option for families just looking to dip a toe into the world of year-round swimming.

Another option: if group lessons are no longer meeting your swimmer’s needs, check out DuPage’s private and semi-private lesson offerings. Team up with a Starz team member of similar ability in a semi-private lesson, establish goals specific to YOUR swimmers, and get a little more bang for your buck! 

 

LAST CHANCE: Our Late-Season Conditioning Clinic Is Underway

We've heard from many parents that they're excited by their swimmers' growth this summer and aren't ready for them to be done. In response, the Starz are offering, for the first time, a late season conditioning clinic for Starz swimmers whose competitive seasons have concluded. If you would like to like to extend your swimmer's experience, this is for you! 

Clinic sessions began today, Monday, July 21, and will continue through Friday, July 25 from 9:50-10:20 a.m. Swimmers will be separated into lanes based on their current level of proficiency and fitness. Swimmers of all ages are welcome provided that they can swim independently. Your swimmer needn't have participated in the Classic meet to join this clinic. All clinic sessions will be overseen by Head Coach Mary. She will be supported by other coaches as necessary based on swimmer enrollment.

This is a great way to reinforce the skills your swimmer has learned this season or to stay in shape for club swim tryouts. Please note that City swimmers are not eligible for this clinic; their practices will continue through the week as noted above.

Families may sign up for as many/as few days as they like. Please use THIS FORM to sign up. Each half hour session is $12; charges will be assessed this week to your preferred credit card on file. Signups must be received by 7:30 a.m. tomorrow—Tuesday—if you’d like your swimmer to participate.

 

Picking Up Regular Season and Championship Meet Awards

On Wednesday, following evening practice, the awards bins will disappear from the pool and head to my house. There, I’ll add Classic awards to swimmers’ folders and do the same following this weekend’s City meet. If your swimmer hasn’t checked his or her folder recently and is still practicing, please have them clear it out tomorrow or Wednesday. This will make room for our swimmers’ many incoming championship awards!

The bins—including championship meet awards--will be available again on Sunday for those attending our End-of-Season Celebration. Please make sure that your swimmers take their awards with them before heading home. Because many families start to travel when swim winds down, I’ll also make awards available for pick up the week before school starts on a variety of days and times. After school begins, they’ll head to clubhouse storage until the 2026 season

 

This Week's Practices

Here’s a reminder of this week’s City meet practice times. Morning groups (7/8-11/12) remain the same; evening sessions have been combined to reflect the reduced number of swimmers in attendance.

In each session, swimmers will be grouped into lanes, as always, based on current fitness and skill. If you are usually a PM swimmer but need to attend your age group's AM session due to scheduling conflicts (or vice versa), for this week, please do so.

 

AM CITY GROUPS

7:30-8:20 AM-- 11/12+

8:20-9:10 AM-- 9/10

9:10-9:50 AM-- 7/8

**NO 6U AM PRACTICE**

 

PM CITY GROUP

6:15-7:15 PM-- ALL PM Swimmers

 

City Championship Update

City meet lineups are complete, and entries have been submitted to the conference. Additional details will be provided to participants and their families later in the week. This year’s event is at Naperville Central High School.

Congratulations to this year’s City Championship Team!

Arroyo, Elena

Asch, Molly

Colakovic, Theodore

Conner, Marissa

Cummings, Madison

Dalo, Macy

Dela Cruz, Chloe

Eggert, Lucy

Fortkamp, Henry

Fortkamp, Zoe

Gamad, Nadia

Gamad, Nellie

Gottemukala, Samarth

Harp, Madelin

Jin, Emily

Johnston, Kegan

Jones, Abigail

Jones, Grace

Jules, Parker

Kaminski, Holly

Kathuria, Arnav

Kawdia, Avyan

Kram, Jessica

Kram, Taryn

Lagankina, Ekaterina

Li, Keyi (Hunter)

Li, Oliver

Murgas, Natalie

Murphy, Emily

Murphy, George

Nadtochiy, Lucas

Papadimitriou, Leandros

Paramonov, Michael

Pratury, Kaushal

Ranjith, Mithun

Rosensweet, Caroline

Rosensweet, Henry

Rosensweet, Samuel

Ryan, Rory

Sadhu, Saanvi

Sahani, Shiv

Sahani, Shyam

Sivakumar, Sachin

Smith, Noah

Spychala, Arden

Szweda, James

Szweda, Luke

Szweda, Molly

Szweda, Molly

Terziev, Stefania

Verdoorn, Emma

Wenner, Lincoln

Wu, Gabriel

Yim, Rachel

Yu, Charlie

Yu, Emi

Yuan, Theodore

Zhao, Shane

 

 

THIS SUNDAY: Our End-of-Season Celebration

 

The Starz are keeping our end-of-season party laid-back and casual this year after a season of hard work by all.

We’ll gather at Stillwater Club one last time on Sunday morning, July 27, at 11:00 a.m. to celebrate a fabulous summer season. No pricey, catered lunches for little ones who eat only frosted cookies! Like last year, each family will bring its own brunch or lunch food, perhaps teaming up with neighbors or team buddies to develop a potluck-style menu that best suits their needs. Eat on the patio, under the new pool deck gazebo, or set up your tent in the team area grass.

Pack a cooler of whatever you’d like to drink (and whatever insulated tumbler you need to drink it), then YOU decide! Will it be sandwiches, charcuterie, fried chicken, Indian favorites—maybe you’ll even bust out the camp grill! The possibilities are endless! Bring your camp chairs, folding tables, tailgate tents, and yard games; whatever your family needs for laid back, outdoor fun!

The Starz will provide dessert for all in attendance plus games and music.

 

Order of Events:

11:00 a.m.

Awards on the Pool Deck (sit anywhere on deck, facing the record board)

11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Mealtime, Socializing, and Open Pool

1:00-1:30 p.m.

Fun Family Relays

 

In the event of inclement weather, the party will shift to the following day, Monday, July 28, from 5:00-7:30 p.m.

If your family plans to attend, PLEASE RSVP using THIS FORM so that we can better plan dessert purchasing. Your RSVP also ensures that your swimmer’s award will be available for presentation at the party, so don’t forget! The deadline for RSVP’s is THIS WEDNESDAY, July 23.

 

Classic Meet Wrap-Up

At Classic and City, team points are awarded for 1^st-8^th place in both individual events and relays. In individual events, swimmers placing 1^st-8^th earn medals, and swimmers placing 9^th-16^th earn large rosette ribbons. In relays, medals are awarded to 1^st place teams only. Swimmers on relay teams placing 2^nd-8^th are awarded large rosette ribbons.

Congratulations to the following swimmers on their finishes at Saturday’s Classic Championship meet! Complete results for the PM session can be found HERE or on the Meet Mobile app. The names of relays/swimmers in awards position appear in red. An asterisk (*) indicates a new personal best; some of our swimmers’ time drops were enormous!

 

100Y/200Y Medley Relay

6U Boys, 6^th Place: Jake Cummings, Parker Simmer, Apollon Papadimitriou, Logan Knight

7/8 Girls, 3^rd Place: Winnie Eggert, Maahi Mohite, Kayla Szweda, Arshika Srivastava

7/8 Boys, 1^st Place: Eshaan Jaishankar, Landon Frias, Jackson Blaine, Landon Jastrow

9/10 Girls, 3^rd Place: Prisha Shetty, Lily Dalo, Ola Kurpiewski, Maddie O’Toole

9/10 Boys, 4^th Place: Luke Szweda, Max Zhao, Krish Jaishankar, Reyaansh Gupta

11/12 Girls, 3^rd Place: Natalie Kaltsas, Annabelle Murgas, Olivia Wojdyla, Ashlynn Knight

11/12 Boys, 4^th Place: Max Wenner, Nelson Spychala, Noah Vanegas, Nikhil Shankar

 

25Y Freestyle

6U Girls

Sophia Jastrow, 34^th

 

6U Boys

Logan Knight*, 9^th

Parker Simmer, 15^th

Apollon Papadimitriou, 32^nd

Jake Cummings, 40^th

 

7/8 Girls

Arshika Srivastava*, 1^st

Iulia Pichkova*, 20^th

Reyna Oberoi, 31^st

Palina Pichkova*, 57^th

Nyra Kawdia, 60^th

 

7/8 Boys

Landon Jastrow, 10^th

Landon Frias, 23^rd

Nolan Kaltsas, 28^th

 

50Y Freestyle

7/8 Girls

Arshika Srivastava*, 1^st

Kayla Szweda, 22^nd

Nyra Kawdia, 32^nd

 

7/8 Boys

Eshaan Jaishankar, 10^th

Nolan Kaltsas*, 23^rd

 

9/10 Girls

Prisha Shetty, 21^st

Lily Dalo, 22^nd

Maddie O’Toole, 23^rd

Zayna Dubash, 45^th

Mithra Ranjith*, 48^th

Maya Vanegas*, 49^th

Angelina Tucci*, 50^th

Mariana Barboza*, 53^rd

Anastasia Cornbleet, 58^th

Arianna Tucci, 60^th

Gia Oberoi*, 68^th

Anshika Arulbabu, 71^st

 

9/10 Boys

Luke Szweda*, 7^th

Reyaansh Gupta, 29^th

Krish Jaishankar*, 34^th

 

11/12 Girls

Ashlynn Knight*, 15^th

Natalie Kaltsas, 20^th

Zoè Smith, 23^rd

Vihana Samy, 24^th

 

11/12 Boys

Max Wenner*, 18^th

Noah Vanegas*, 22^nd

Nikhil Shankar*, 30^th

 

100Y IM

11/12 Girls

Anabelle Murgas*, 6^th

 

11/12 Boys

Noah Vanegas*, 6^th

 

25Y/50Y Butterfly

7/8 Girls

Maahi Mohite*, 6^th

Kayla Szweda, 8^th

Reyna Oberoi*, 14^th

 

7/8 Boys

Jackson Blaine*, 1^st

 

9/10 Girls

Ola Kurpiewski, 5^th

Zayna Dubash*, 12^th

 

11/12 Girls

Ashlynn Knight*, 5^th

Zoè Smith*, 10^th

 

11/12 Boys

Nelson Spychala*, 8^th

 

25Y/50Y Backstroke

6U Girls

Sophia Jastrow*, 31^st

 

6U Boys

Parker Simmer, 8^th

Logan Knight, 16^th

Apollon Papadimitriou, 24^th

 

7/8 Girls

Winne Eggert, 18^th

Reyna Oberoi*, 24^th

Iulia Pichkova*, 26^th

Nyra Kawdia, 43^rd

Palina Pichkova, 52^nd

 

7/8 Boys

Eshaan Jaishankar*, 6^th

Jackson Blaine, 18^th

Nolan Kaltsas, 24^th

 

9/10 Girls

Maddie O’Toole, 17^th

Anastasia Cornbleet, 22^nd

Zayna Dubash, 27^th

Mariana Barboza*, 29^th

Arianna Tucci*, 43^rd

Maya Vanegas*, 45^th

Mithra Ranjith*, 46^th

Gia Oberoi*, 50^th

Anshika Arulbabu*, 51^st

 

9/10 Boys

Krish Jaishankar*, 3^rd

Maz Zhao*, 4^th

Reyaansh Gupta*, 16^th

Luke Szweda, 18^th

 

11/12 Girls

Natalie Kaltsas*, 7^th

Vihana Samy*, 13^th

Olivia Wojdyla*, 16^th

 

11/12 Boys

Max Winner Wenner*, 1^st

Nelson Spychala, 8^th

Nikhil Shankar, 19^th

 

25Y/50Y Breaststroke

7/8 Girls

Maahi Mohite*, 3^rd

Winnie Eggert*, 7^th

 

7/8 Boys

Landon Frias, 3^rd

 

9/10 Girls

Lily Dalo, 3^rd

Arianna Tucci*, 8^th

Prisha Shetty, 11^th

Ola Kurpiewski*, 12^th

Anastasia Cornbleet, 17^th

Mariana Barboza*, 42^nd

 

9/10 Boys

Max Zhao*, 5^th

 

11/12 Girls

Annabelle Murgas, 7^th

Olivia Wojdyla*, 14^th

 

100Y/200Y Freestyle Relay

7/8 Girls, 3^rd Place: Arshika Srivastava, Maahi Mohite, Winnie Eggert, Kayla Szweda

7/8 Boys, 4^th Place: Eshaan Jaishankar, Landon Jastrow, Landon Frias, Jackson Blaine

9/10 Boys, 5^th Place: Max Zhao, Reyaansh Gupta, Krish Jaishankar, Luke Szweda

11/12 Girls, 4^th Place: Annabelle Murgas, Natalie Kaltsas, Olivia Wojdyla, Ashlynn Knight

11/12 Boys, 7^th Place: Nelson Spychala, Noah Vanegas, Nikhil Shankar, Max Wenner

 

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That’s it for today, Starz families! Please don’t forget to clear out your awards folders in the next two days and sign up for the Conditioning Clinic (if eligible and interested) and the End-of-Season Celebration!

To all of our Classic families, please keep those swimmers in the water during the off season however you can. If club swimming isn’t it, we strongly recommend the program at Momentum. You did incredible things this weekend; let’s keep it going!

 

Lea

Stillwater Starz Parent Board