If you swim in the Prairie Lodge indoor pool, you probably have seen members of the Sting Rays Swim Club doing laps or quietly working on their strokes.
It’s all a mirage, folks, like an imaginary oasis in the desert.
The Sun City Sting Rays celebrate their outstanding performances at the 2012 Six-County Senior Olympic swimming competition. Kneeling, from left: Joan Souchek and Joanie Koplos. Second row, from left: Margaret Liedtke, Ginny McCann, Sandra Lott, Anne Broderick, Phyllis Nordlof, and Sandy Sterling. Back row, from left: Caryl Fabian, Len Lencioni, Pat Hatton, Joe, Loughlin. Not pictured: Art Fitzgerald. (Photo provided)
The low-key practice sessions mask a powerhouse senior swim outfit that is dominating its competition in the six-county Chicago area. It’s time the Sting Rays stopped being a secret and entered the Sun City spotlight.
Thirteen members of the 45-member club went to the 2012 Six-County Senior Olympics on July 26 and swam away with a whopping 30 medals, 20 of them gold, in the swimming competition held in Addison. It was one of the 12-year-old club’s finest overall team performances, if not the best one.
“I believe this to be (if not the most) certainly one of the largest hauls of medals ever for the club,” said Joanie Koplos, a member for the past six years. “We have a sensational meet coach, Len Lencioni, who has not only trained us well but is also a fabulous state champ swimmer himself. He swam for Northern Illinois University.”
The Sting Rays won more medals by far than any other group. They took home 20 gold medals, six silvers, and four bronzes. Of the 13 Sting Rays who competed, 10 won medals.
Leading the way with five medals each were meet coach Lencioni and the group’s oldest member, Caryl Fabian, who is 85 years old. She won five gold medals in the 200-yard freestyle, 100 free, 50 free, 50 backstroke, and 50 breaststroke. Lencioni won golds in the 200 and 100 free, 100 individual medley, 50 backstroke, and 50 butterfly events.
Other medal winners were Joan Souchek, two golds in the 50 free and 50 backstroke events; Joe Loughlin, one gold in the 50 breaststroke, one silver in the 50 backstroke, and two bronze in the 100 and 50 free; Anne Broderick, three golds in the 200 and 100 free and 50 backstroke; Art Fitzgerald, one silver in the 100 free; Ginny McCann, two golds in the 100 individual medley and 50 backstroke and a silver in the 50 breaststroke; Sandra Lott, two golds in the 100 and 50 free; Koplos, two silvers in the 200 and 100 free, and a bronze in the 50 free; and Pat Hatton, a silver in the 50 free and a bronze in the 50 backstroke.
Also competing were Margaret Liedtke, Phyllis Nordlof, and Sandy Sterling.
“This was a six-county competition, so swimmers came from all over the area,” said Joan Souchek. “We had to defeat competitors in the lane next to us.”
According to Koplos, there were about 40 swimmers in each event in each age group.
Fabian, a lifetime recreational swimmer who has only been competing since she came to Sun City in 2001, said her five golds were tempered partially by the fact she only faced one competitor in most races.
“I’m in the 85-89 age group, so there are only a few competitors in that category now,” she said.
Fabian taught swimming at the Lattof YMCA in Des Plaines, where she lived for more than 40 years before coming to Sun City.
“I was always a tomboy when I was young,” she said. “I played all kinds of sports, including golf, and I have kept myself in good shape to be able to do it today.”
Souchek and Loughlin swam in the 80-84 age group, Broderick and Fitzgerald in the 70-74 category; McCann, Lott, Koplos, and Hatton participated in the 65-69 group; and Lencioni in the 60-64 group.
The Sting Rays combine competitive and recreational swimming. About a dozen current members are competitive swimmers and participate in meets throughout the Chicago area year-round. Most members are recreational swimmers who swim laps for exercise, health, and fitness purposes.
