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: Deadlines, Fun Faamily Relays, *Coach Gift*, City Team

Lea Fortkamp

Good Morning, Starz Families!

First, here's an UPDATED look at our final City Championship roster for 2025. Events are now visible in SportsEngine. Psych sheets and meet timelines can be found HERE. This is also the page where you'll find an electronic copy of the heat sheet once meet-day scratches have been processed and where complete results will be posted following each session.

During the meet, you can follow along in the Meet Mobile app for heats, lanes, and results. You can also use this app to track your favorite swimmers--whether you're present at the meet or cheering them on from afar. While this app does require purchase, it can now be shared between members of the same family. If you attend swim meets (summer, school, and/or club) regularly, it's well worth it.

We'll have more information for our City swimmers and families via email tomorrow. But first, congratulations to our City Team!

 

Stillwater Starz

2025 City Championship Team

Elena Arroyo

Molly Asch

Theodore Colakovic

Marissa Conner

Madison Cummings

Macy Dalo

Chloe Dela Cruz

Lucy Eggert

Zoe Fortkamp

Henry Fortkamp

Nellie Gamad

Nadia Gamad

Samarth Gottemukala

Madelin Harp

Emily Jin

Kegan Johnston

Abigail Jones

Grace Jones

Parker Jules

Holly Kaminski

Arnav Kathuria

Avyan Kawdia

Jessica Kram

Taryn Kram

Ekaterina Lagankina

Oliver Li

Hunter Li

Natalie Murgas

Emily Murphy

George Murphy

Lucas Nadtochiy

Leandros Papadimitriou

Michael Paramonov

Kaushal Pratury

Mithun Ranjith

Emme Reed

Caroline Rosensweet

Samuel Rosensweet

Henry Rosensweet

Rory Ryan

Saanvi Sadhu

Shiv Sahani

Shyam Sahani

Sachin Sivakumar

Noah Smith

Arden Spychala

Luke Szweda

James Szweda

Molly Szweda

Stefania Terziev

Emma Todevski

Kai Todevski

Emma Verdoorn

Lincoln Wenner

Gabriel Wu

Rachel Yim

Charlie Yu

Emi Yu

Theodore Yuan

Shane Zhao

 

 

RSVP TODAY: End-of-Season Celebration

TODAY, Wednesday, July 23: Last day to RSVP for Sunday's End-of-Season Celebration. We need your RSVP's to help with awards distribution and dessert planning; if your swimmers have not RSVP'ed, they won't hear their names read during our awards presentation, and retrieval of their participant medals will be less efficient for your family.

If you're hoping for a great photo op (and might also like some ice cream), please RSVP before the end of the day today using THIS LINK! For full details on this laid back gathering, please see previous emails.

 

Sign Up by FRIDAY for Fun Family Relays: The Highlight of Our End-of-Season Celebration and Our Season's Grand Finale

One popular event that’s making a return at this year's end-of-season celebration? Fun Family Relays! In these events, parents and guardians combine with their Starz swimmers of all ages to form highly entertaining (and occasionally competitive) relays. 
 
Expert swimming ability is NOT required of parents. You can swim in board shorts and a rash guard. You can swim with a pool noodle. You can walk on the bottom (if you're tall). You don't need to wear a cap. You can dog paddle. Neither Eric Jones nor anyone else will DQ you. Fun and laughter are the only goals!

All ages and abilities are welcome! Only have a couple willing swimmers in your family and need help putting together a relay team of four? No problem! We’ll make it happen. Families with fewer than four swimmers can be combined. Use THIS FORM to express your interest in joining the fun. PLEASE RESPOND BY 5PM FRIDAY!
 
All relay participants (child and adult) will start in the water; no one will be diving/jumping from the deck or blocks. Coaches (all of whom count as children) are encouraged to sign up with their own parents or join other families' teams. 
 
 

Contribute by FRIDAY: Voluntary Coach Gift

Each year, the Starz community has a tradition of providing gifts to our coaches for their summer of hard work and dedication. Coaches work in all weather for very modest wages, providing cheerful, positive feedback for our swimmers. It is only because of our coaches' guidance that our swimmers are able to grow and achieve their personal goals. They work hard to make swimming fun for our kids, and, as Classic families discovered in Saturday's early hours when they opened their front doors for the first time before the meet, our coaches' dedication doesn't end when they leave the pool. City families, you'll see this for yourself this weekend. 

We have thirteen coaches this season, and we'd love your help in showing them a little extra love at our end-of-season celebration on Sunday, July 27. We are asking families to consider making a cash contribution, in whatever amount they're able, to fund the purchase of end-of-season "Thank You" gifts for our coaches. Please don't worry too much about the amount; give an amount that is comfortable for you! This is a gift that comes directly from our families, and it is deeply appreciated by our coaches year after year. Contributions will be divided to provide gifts for the entire staff. 

You can contribute via Venmo (@Lea-Fortkamp), Zelle ([email protected], 312-505-3677) or drop your contribution in an envelope marked "Coaches Gift" in my mailbox, 2603 Charlestowne Lane (NW corner of Skylane). Please make your contributions by this Friday, July 25. This way, we'll have the time we need on Saturday to purchase gifts with the funds collected.

 

 

Thanks for your contributions to our family coach gift, and for your appreciation of our coaches' efforts this season! Thanks, too, for your RSVP's for our end-of-season bash and for embracing the fun of family relays. We hope you're having a great end to your family's summer swim season. City Families, look for more soon via email.

 

Lea and the Starz Parent Board