About Us > History

Bill Schalz and his wife Robin founded the Academy Bullets Swim Club in the spring of 1994. At the time, the Bullets was the only coach owned swim team in Illinois so the concept was quite new. Bill and Robin wanted to create a team that was truly athlete centered, coach driven, and parent supported.

With only 60 swimmers that first year, Bill & Robin had their work cut out for them proving that the coach owned concept could and would be successful. They did not have to wait long to find out. In the first year, the Bullets to an 8th place finish at the Age Group State Meet and are the only team in Illinois Swimming History to finish in the top 10 in every state meet since its inception. In 1997, the Bullets made history again by becoming the first Illinois team to every win a national title when our men's team won the Speedo Junior National Championships in Orlando, FL, breaking three Junior National Meet records in the process.

On August 1st, 2006, Todd Capen was named Head Coach of the Bullets, after having spent five years as our Head Age Group Coach. Todd was a member of the 1997 team that won the Junior National Meet in Orlando, FL.

In 2012, the Bullets expanded. Approached about merging with two local teams, the Bullets moved into Riverside-Brookfield and Bartlett, IL. Since the Bullets have moved into those cities, the number of swimmers participating has grown tremendously, and both high school programs have seen their programs reach new heights. The expansion also took the Bullets to over 600 swimmers making us the largest team in Illinois.

Since 2012, the Bullets have added two news sites; Springfield (2013), and Schaumburg (2017). With the addition of these sites, the Bullets are now are not only the largest team in Illinois; we are one of the largest teams in USA Swimming's Central Zone!

Not only have we expanded to many cities across Illinois, we have also seen tremendous success in the pool. Bullets swimmers have competed in the World Championships, Olympic Trials, Paralympic Trials, European Championships, United States Olympic Festival and many USA Swimming International Teams around the world. In 2004, two Bullet swimmers (Saulius Binevicius and Darius Grigaliunas) represented Lithuania in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.