The Gig Harbor high school Lady Tides had a fun-filled and exciting year filled with grueling practices and victorious competitions. The two team captains, Delaney Moyer (12) and Beau Ensminger (12), led the Lady Tides to an undefeated year. “I like the responsibility role of being a leader, and with that I can help others be better in swimming.“ Ensminger stated. Their wonderful coaches are Mike Kelly, Diana Litsch, and Kathy Barmore. They won the Puget Sound Leagues with 346 points, followed by Peninsula with 220 points and Silas with 219 points. League event winners included Kaitlyn LaTendresse (11) in the 200 free, Ensminger in the 100 butterfly, and Brooklyn Learned (9) in the 500 free. Jenna Nelson (11), Eva Dahlin (10), Ensminger, and Kaitlyn LaTendress won the 200 free relay. The girls who did not have a qualifying time would compete in the 50 free and had the potential to wild card into another event. The Lady Tides won at 307 points, Silas at 198 points, and Peninsula at 177 points.
District event winners were Kaitlyn LaTendresse in the 200 free and again in the 500 freestyle. Learned, Nelson, Dahlin, and Kaitlyn LaTendresse all won the 200 free relay. The 400 free relay was won by Nelson, Dahlin, Kaitlyn LaTendresse, and Ensminger. All of these girls worked very hard, many of them making the top 6 of each event they were placed in. Several of them, Nelson, Ensminger, Kaitlyn LaTendresse, and Learned, qualified to be iron women in districts. Those girls were dedicated to getting a district time for all of the events. “I had to work very hard to be a district iron woman. It consisted of many long hours and working very hard. But in the end it was all worth it achieving my goal,” Learned stated. With districts completed, the qualifying girls looked forward to the state meet. Those girls include Kaitlyn LaTendresse, Nelson, Dahlin, Ensminger, Learned, Ava Hurley (11), Kiah Sawyer (12), Zoey Nichols (12), Anna Isenberg (10), and Audrey LaTendresse (9).
They competed on November 15 for prelims and November 16 for finals. The girls had a fantastic time competing against all of the competitors in WA state. Nelson, Learned, Ensminger, and Dahlin placed 11th out of 24 in the 200 medley relay. Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 7th, and Dahlin placed 15th out of 24 in the 200 freestyle. Learned placed 8th out of 24 girls in the 200 Individual Medley. Ensminger placed 23rd, and Audrey LaTendresse placed 24th out of 24 in the 100 fly. Nelson placed 17th out of 24 in the 100 freestyle. Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 5th, and Audrey LaTendresse placed 21st out of 24 in the 500 freestyle. Learned, Nelson, Dahlin, and Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 6th out of 24 in the 200 freestyle relay. Ensminger placed 21st out of 24 in the 100 backstroke. Learned placed 12th, and Sawyer placed 23rd out of 24 in the 100 breaststroke. Nelson, Dahlin, Ensminger, and Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 6th out of 24 in the 400 freestyle relay.
The lady tides then competed at state finals on the afternoon of November 16. Nelson, Learned, Ensminger, and Dahlin placed 10th out of 16 in the 200 medley relay. Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 10th, and Dahlin placed 16th out of 16 in the 200 freestyle. Brooklyn Learned placed 8th out of 16 in the 200 Individual Medley. Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 6th out of 16 in the 500 freestyle. Brooklyn Learned, Jenna Nelson, Eva Dahlin, and Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 6th out of 16 in the 200 freestyle relay. Brooklyn Learned placed 14th out of 16 in the 100 breaststroke. Jenna Nelson, Eva Dahlin, Beau Ensminger, and Kaitlyn LaTendresse placed 6th out of 16 in the 400 freestyle relay. The girls did incredible, placing 6th out of 34 teams and getting a total score of 111.