North Thurston girls swimming rolls past Lincoln to improve to 2-0

LACEY — North Thurston High School’s girls swim team is made up of a new group of swimmers, including 11 athletes who entered the 2026 season without competitive swim experience.

Through the Rams’ first two matches, they’ve already found success with two dominant wins against Mount Tahoma and Lincoln. North Thurston defeated Lincoln 93-64 at home Tuesday afternoon, winning seven of the 11 events, to follow up a 120-17 throttling of Mount Tahoma on Sept. 11.

“I am incredibly proud of those 11 swimmers. In addition to that, all of our returning swimmers are doing different events,” North Thurston head coach Christy Bermensolo said. “We’re getting good coverage across the board. That’s how we’re doing so well in these meets. All of the beginners are doing fabulous.”

One of North Thurston’s swimmers falls in the category of a newcomer to the program but is no stranger to competitive swimming. Junior Chelsea Watson recently moved to Washington from Connecticut and last swam competitively in sixth grade. Her mother, a North Thurston graduate and former swimmer, helped Watson get back into the sport five years later, and she’s already making a difference for the Rams.

Against Lincoln, she finished second in the 100-yard freestyle at 1 minute, 13.07 seconds, just behind teammate Kai Cardwell, who finished in 1:12.39. Watson also swam in the winning 400-yard freestyle relay team, crossing the finish line in 5:26.54 with Claire Emerson, Lilli Brandes and Luna Kresha. Watson’s 100-yard backstroke race was an exhibition, but she would’ve placed fourth at 1:31.90 had it counted. 

It’s been a bit of a learning curve for Watson to get back into the flow of competitive swimming, but the fruits of her labor are beginning to grow.

“I’ve definitely had to try harder because I haven't done it in a while. It was kind of discouraging at first because I felt like I was a lot faster before,” Watson said. “It felt like I wasn’t gonna get any faster, but I ended up getting faster than I thought I would.”

The North Thurston 200-yard medley relay team of Kresha, Cardwell, Michelle Ewig and Kylei Allenger qualified for the district meet by winning the event with a best time of 2:22.22.

Ewig also qualified for districts in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:49.65, and she 

immediately returned to the water to win the 50-yard freestyle in the first heat at 29.23 seconds.

North Thurston’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Cardwell, June Booth, Allenger and Rivera-Sanders won the event with a district-qualifying time of 2:15.64, a new best.

Booth won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:43.98, and sophomore Lilyana Rivera-Sanders ranked behind her at 2:58.88. Junior Aspen Bermensolo took second place in the 500-yard freestyle, posting a time of 7:38.79. Sophomore Ruth Cheney finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:55.52, with junior Halana Tanabe right behind her in third at 1:56.04.

The immediate growth the Rams have shown in the first weeks of the season is credited to the culture the returning players and coaches have established to allow the newcomers like Watson to thrive.

“It’s a big family. We’re always giving each other high fives. It’s a really good vibe,” Watson said. “This team is so supportive no matter what time you get. I like how exciting this team is because they’re always cheering, and it’s always so loud.”

North Thurston will look to continue its hot start to the season on Thursday when it travels to Silverdale to face Central Kitsap.