The 2023-24 school year is upon us, which means that fall sports have started! Here are our girls swimming and diving previews
*All coaches were contacted multiple times for this piece. If you don’t see your school, have your coach reach out to Michael Wojtychiw at mmwojtychiw@cps.edu.
By Michael Wojtychiw
School Name: Curie
Key Returnees:
Jayda Dominguez, Junior
Miledi Contreras, Senior
Key Newcomers:
Lilith Ramirez, Freshman
Anyela Contreras, Senior
Tatiana Gutierrez, Senior
Coach’s Season Outlook: We are rebooting our program so a lot of newcomers with only 2 returning from the previous season.
School Name: Jones-Payton College Prep (Co-op)
Social Media Handle: @jpgirlsswim
Key Returnees:
I’m really excited about everyone who is returning.
Key newcomers:
We have 10 new swimmers and 1 new diver this year, and we are very excited for all of them.
Coach’s Season Outlook:
We are really looking forward to building up our depth that we started last year. The swimmers and divers have been dedicated to bettering their craft and have been learning about the fundamentals of swimming. We have been resilient in the face of challenges at the school level, and we are very excited to see our growth and improvement this year.
School Name: Kenwood Academy
Social Media Handle: @KAHSaquatics
Key Returnees (name, year in school):
Angela Shoffner, Senior
Kee’Lani Whitlock, Senior
Key newcomers (name, year in school):
Sydney Poole, Freshman
Natalya Harrell, Freshman
Coach’s Season Outlook:
I am very excited for this season and new chapter for Kenwood Aquatics. My outlook is to give our student athletes opportunities that they may not have had before so they will not only as swimmers, but as people as well.
School Name: Mather High School
Key Returnees (name, year in school, any accolades):
Vanessa Garcia 12th grade
Victoria Wondowassen 12th grade
Kimberly Flores-Ramos 12th grade
Natalia Perez 12th Grade
Nattapak Chankaew 11th grade
Kate De La Cruz 12th grade
Preside Lawson 10th
Aracely Rubio 12th grade
Johanna Perez 12th grade
Sophie Pinango 11th grade
Donna Sandoval 11th grade
Valeria Sanchez Jurado 12th grade
Key newcomers (name, year in school):
Ailsa Gutierres 9th grade
Yareli Urena 10th grade
Moreno Lupita 9th grade
Gesselle Rios 9th grade
Iris Martinez-Garcia 12th grade
Jordyn Bufkins 9th grade
Maryam Shalash 12 grade
Ngo Nguyen 12th grade
Coach’s Season Outlook:
Having many returning swimmers we can see our swimmers improving in many areas within the technique of their strokes and their mental capacity. Our goal is to promote confidence and empower them to face any difficulties inside and outside the pool. We are excited to have many personal best this season!
School Name: Northside College Prep HS
Coach’s Season Outlook: NCP is gearing up to have another fast swimming season. Some of our key returning Seniors are looking to make an impact before graduation, and new members of the team are excited to see what they can accomplish.
School Name: Prosser
Key returnees (name, year in school):
Alyson Ospina, Senior
Danisa Cazares, Junior
Maritza Nunez, Junior
Martha Otero, Junior
Lesley Trinidad, Sophomore
Beverly Torres, Sophomore
Yaneli Garcia, Junior
Key Newcomers:
Ashley Diaz, Sophomore
Aidalys Bracho, Sophomore
Kayla Johnson, Senior
Linette Maldonado, Freshman
Yarisbel Vazquez, Senior
Coaches Season outlook: Improve the skills of all athletes and make progress towards the goals the athletes stated at the beginning of the season. Of course with some W’s 🙂
School Name: Whitney Young
Social Media Handle: IG: wy_swimstagram
Key Returnees (name, year in school:
Jillian Drake – SR
Isabella Chow – JR
Brooke Whitt – JR
Eliana King – JR
Madison Hurt – JR
Grace Chin – JR
Jazlyn Wu – SO
Key newcomers (name, year in school):
Sophia Chin – FR
Chloe Mui – FR
Sophia Wyatt – SO (transfer from Taft)
Coach’s Season Outlook: After graduating an IHSA state qualifier and having another swimmer that placed at state the last two seasons move to California, Whitney Young is hoping to regroup and become the first CPL school to place at IHSA State meet three consecutive years (Northside Prep would have but the Covid season interrupted what would probably have been four in a row). This is in addition to working toward winning the CPL championship for the first time in 5 years.
