Splashing into the Season: A Deep Dive into Boys Swimming and Diving Previews

The boys’ swimming and diving season has commenced, marking the time for our yearly assessment of how the teams are anticipated to perform, as viewed by their coaches. If your school is not listed, please reach out to Michael Wojtychiw (mmwojtychiw@cps.edu)

*All coaches were consulted for this review. Their feedback is showcased below.

Institution: Hubbard High School

Notable returning swimmers (Name, grade, stroke(s), accolades):

Angel Lara, senior, IM, Butterfly

Aaron Torres, sophomore, Back & 100 Free

Patrick Riley, freshman, 200 Free

Jhulian Aldrete, senior, 500

Emerging talents to observe (Name, grade, stroke(s)):
Patrick Riley, freshman, 200 Free

Coach’s season forecast: We are finally able to compete in every event in our meets again. We aim to secure a top 3 position in the conference.

Institution: Kenwood Academy
Social media account: KAHSaquatics

Notable returning swimmers (Name, grade, stroke(s) accolades):
Jordan Sangoleye, Junior, Butterfly

Joel Brown, Junior, Breaststroke

Eli Garner, Junior, Backstroke

Emerging talents to observe (Name, grade, stroke(s)):
Ahmad Brown, Junior, Freestyle

Adriel Owens, Senior, Freestyle

Coach’s season forecast:

Last season, we accomplished our three essential objectives. Securing 1st place in the Red Conference for the second consecutive year, ranking in the top 5 at the CPL City Championships, and advancing to the Silver Conference! Despite being in a rebuilding phase, we are eager to train new swimmers into competitive athletes as we embrace this new conference.

Institution: Lake View High School

Notable returning swimmers (Name, grade, stroke(s) accolades):

Andrej Milenovic, 12th, 50 free

Gabriel Anama, 12th, 100 Butterfly, 100 Free

Marlon Castaneda, 10th, 500 Freestyle, 100 Breast, 200 Free

Huunam Le, 12th, (Captain) 100 Backstroke

Emerging talents to observe (Name, grade, stroke(s)):
Dylan Lopez, 12th, Breast & Freestyle
Alexander Sosa, 9th, Breast
Leonardo Ramirez, 9th, Individual Medley, Freestyle

Coach’s season forecast: The Lake View High School Boys Swim team is thrilled to return for their second consecutive year after a long absence of a team. We’re eager to contend for our conference championship and improve upon our second-place finish from the previous year. 

Institution: Lane Tech

Notable returning swimmers (Name, grade, stroke(s) accolades):

Owen Lee – Senior, Diver. Finished 23rd in the state competition last year. Two-time Sectional champion and two-time Conference Champion. Set two school records in diving.

George Ivascu – Senior, Distance Free. Achieved 13th place in the state competition in the 500 free last year. Two-time sectional champion in the 500. Established records in the 200 free and 500 free.

Alek Arsic – Junior, Sprint Free. Placed 9th in the 50 free and 13th in the 100 Free at the state competition last year. Set school records in the 50 and 100 free, as well as being part of the record-breaking medley and 200 free relays.

Aidan Kaplan- Junior, Free/Butterfly. Finished 31st in the 50 free and 38th in the 100 Fly at the state competition last year. Established the school record in the 100 fly, and contributed to the record-breaking medley and 200 free relays.

Owen Huynh – Junior, Back/Fly. Placed 29th in the 100 Back at the state competition. Contributed to the record-breaking medley relay.

Emerging talents to observe (Name, grade):
Ashton Boeke – Sophomore

Alex Ivascu – Sophomore

Ivan Goncharko – Sophomore

Alexander Keil – Sophomore

Jack Foos – Sophomore

Oren Galster – Sophomore

Brian Zweifel – Freshman

Oskar Marendic – Freshman

Dimitar Bratovanov – Freshman

Coach’s season forecast:

We are aiming to build on the progress we achieved last year. In the Frosh/Soph team, we have 9 returning Sophomores, 9 new Freshmen, and one new Sophomore. We are excited to witness their continued development of competitive skills and realization of their potential. For Varsity, we only graduated 3 seniors, so the team remains largely unchanged from last year, with the exciting addition of a few sophomores and juniors. Our coaches have been studying new coaching methods and strategies, and we are eager to implement our new program! Our diving team member, Owen Lee, is coming off a 23rd place finish in the State last year, and we hope to see him in the Sweet 16 for his final year!

Institution: Northside College Prep

Notable returning swimmers (Name, grade, stroke(s) accolades):
Jay Huang, Junior, IM, Backstroke Freestyle

Chris Naglestad, Sophomore, IM, Butterfly, Freestyle

Nolan Lujan: Sophomore, Breaststroke, Freestyle

Grant Anderson, Senior, Freestyle

Finn Dreghorn, Sophomore, Backstroke, Freestyle

Emerging talents to observe (Name, grade, stroke(s)):

Henry Everett, Freshman, Butterfly, Freestyle

Coach’s season forecast:

The Mustangs are hoping to enhance their overall position of 4th place in the CPL this year. With only two Senior-class swimmers on the Varsity squad, the team aims to utilize this season and the next to make crucial adjustments to lineups and team composition to elevate our overall standing in the city and state.