Krista Pal’s Spartan swimmers keep finding ways to build a culture of equal parts sportsmanship and competition at their home pool at the Bainbridge Island Aquatic Center.

Having just wrapped up a 97-53 victory over Port Angeles Oct. 9, BI swimmers quickly ushered the Roughrider swimmers toward the shallow end of the pool, and teams were quickly counted off. With half the swimmers on one side and the other half back on the deep end, a whistle signaled the start of an impromptu tube relay race. Spartans and Roughriders swam on the same teams, pushing just a bit more energy into what was already a trying hour-and-a-half of competitive meet.

Rather than a declared winning lane, the results were smiles across the board, and a joyous end to another productive meet for the Spartans. “It’s just fun,” Pal said. “It all depends on our time and when the girls want to initiate it, but it is our way of creating community in this sport.”

The local swimming community feels increasingly meaningful since the school’s move to 2A, another aspect to the season that Pal believes is offering new opportunities for her swimmers. “Moving to 2A has definitely gotten us to where we’re able to qualify more girls for state, and we have girls that had not reached qualifying times in the past that are gaining ground on the 2A marks.”

Several of last year’s qualifiers have already taken advantage of the new qualifying times, highlighted by senior Maya Geddes in events such as the 100-yard butterfly and multiple freestyle events. That list now includes the 200 medley relay, Geddes being joined by senior Sara Kriegh and sophomores Olivia Longridge and Lena Everett for a first-place time of 1 minute, 59.91 seconds, and nearly included the 100 breaststroke after she touched the wall in another first-place finish just .25 seconds shy of the mark.

Freshman Audrey Keigley finished just .51 seconds away from the state qualifying time as she topped the 50 free results followed by Everett and Longridge, and freshman Lily Rehder is approaching the mark needed for the 100 backstroke with her latest winning time of 1:06.62.

“(Lily’s) a hard worker and gets out there and swims every day. There’s times where that freshman is leading the way, and we’re proud of her and the other swimmers and excited to see what these girls will keep bringing,” Pal said.

Other winning performances for BI include senior Kriegh in the 200 individual medley (2:29.48), Longridge in the 100 butterfly (1:10.40), senior Piper Majors in the 100 free (59.72 seconds) and winning relay teams in both the 200- and 400-yard freesyle races.

BHS sophomore Olivia Longridge comes up for a breath in the 100 butterfly.