Gator Gazette

As we wrap up another great year, we want to wish all Alligator Aquatics families a very Happy Holidays. Thank you for an incredible 2025 filled with hard work, dedication, teamwork, and community—both in and out of the pool.

We are grateful for our athletes, families, coaches, and volunteers who make this team so special. Here’s to a restful holiday season and to fast swims, big goals, and even bigger celebrations in 2026!

See you on deck in the New Year!

Gators, it’s go-time! 🐊 The 2026 calendar is packed with our final short course meets and the championship stretch that we’ve been training for.

Mark your calendars, stay locked in at practice, and keep chasing those cuts—let’s make a strong push to earn spots on our championship teams in 2026!

IMPORTANT- With the holiday season upon us we encourage everyone to check the Team Calendars regularly for any time changes to our practice schedules.

• WDST Candy Cane Meet
  📍 Woodstock North HS, Woodstock, IL – 12/20 & 12/21

• GSC Super Teams Prelims/Finals Meet
  📍 Glenbrook North HS, Northbrook, IL – 1/09-1/11

• BSC Winter Classic Prelims/Finals Meet
  📍 Barrington HS, Barrington, IL – 1/16-1/18

• Alligator Aquatics Splash for Cash Fundraiser
  📍 Elk Grove HS, Elk Grove, IL – 2/1/26

• Alligator Aquatics Last Splash Hosted Meet
  📍 Elk Grove HS, Elk Grove, IL – 2/22/26

• Illinois Swimming REGIONAL Championships
  📍 TBD, IL – 2/22/26 - 3/1/26

• Illinois Swimming SENIOR State Championships
  📍 UIC Natatorium, Chicago IL – 3/5/26 - 3/8/26

• Illinois Swimming 10 & U State Championships
  📍 Glenbrook North HS, Northbrook IL – 3/7/26 - 3/8/26

• Illinois Swimming AGE GROUP (11-14) State Championships
  📍 Pleasant Prairie RecPlex, Pleasant Prairie WI – 3/12/26 - 3/15/26

Join Alligator Aquatics for a night of fun at the Windy City Bulls basketball game on Saturday January 3, 2026 at 7:00pm as the Bulls take on the Osceola Magic! Have some fun with your teammates and check out the Fun Zone with inflatables and games available throughout the event. As an added bonus, the Windy City Bulls will donate $5 per ticket sold back to the team.

Purchase your tickets here: https://www.gofevo.com/event/Alligatoraquatics3

We are incredibly grateful for the amazing support shown through our fundraising efforts so far this year. Thanks to your participation in multiple Dine & Shares, Giving Tuesday, company matching programs, and our Lou Malnati’s pizza coupon fundraiser, we raised over $10,000 for Alligator Aquatics!

These funds play a vital role in our program by helping keep athlete fees as affordable as possible, supporting the retention of our outstanding coaching staff, providing first-class competition opportunities, and investing in equipment and other program needs that directly benefit our swimmers.

A special thank-you to Heather Schramm for her countless behind-the-scenes hours organizing the Lou Malnati’s fundraiser. Her dedication helped make it our largest and most successful fundraiser so far this year!

Your generosity truly makes a difference for our athletes and our club.

Be on the lookout for our next big fundraising event: Splash for Cash — coming February 2026!

Thank you for being such an incredible and supportive community!

Thank you to all of our families that were able to attend our Feed My Starving Children service project! We had a great turnout and worked together to feed 82 kids for an entire year. Thank you to Coach Stacy for setting up this fun event for our swimmers!

What a weekend at the Alligator Aquatics Winter Splash—great swims, great energy, and tons of fun from start to finish! Our athletes showed up ready to race, cheer, and represent, making it a fantastic hosted meet all around.

A huge thank-you to our incredible parent volunteers whose time and teamwork helped make the weekend such a success. We truly couldn’t host events like this without you!

Special thanks to Amanda and Jay Hager for serving as our meet directors, Shannon Veltman, Adam Clementi, and Daniel Cooper for keeping everything running smoothly as our officials, and to our amazing coaching staff—Jenny, Kelly, and of course our fearless leader, Stacy—for guiding and supporting our swimmers every step of the way.

Thank you as well to Eric Strohmeier for his excellent work in the hospitality room—much appreciated by all!

Great job, Gators! 🐊

We’re already looking forward to our next hosted meet the weekend of February 22.

Holiday sweaters were out in Arlington Heights! Thank you to all the Alligator Aquatics parents who joined us at Peggy Kinnane’s on Saturday, December 13th to spread some holiday cheer. It was so much fun mingling, laughing, and celebrating the season together—proof that our community shines just as brightly outside the pool as it does in it!

This month, we want to shine the spotlight on nine Bionic Group swimmers who competed in their very first swim meet at the 2025 Alligator Aquatics Winter Splash: Casey, Zachary, Sydney, Kris, Michael, Naima, Nora, Stella and Archer (who is not new to meets. He has been racing alongside his big sister Quinn, a Phoenix swimmer, since October).

Each swimmer raced with a lot of confidence and determination, showing great competitiveness (wanted to win that bag tag), sportsmanship (cheered for each other), and team spirit (GO Alligators!). First swim meets can be nerve-wracking and they were for sure feeling nerves! BUT they all swam like CHAMPS!

Congratulations to you all on swimming an amazing first meet!