As the early-season results have indicated, Greenwich High School’s varsity girls swimming team, the defending CIAC State Open, CIAC Class LL and FCIAC champion, is primed to meet the challenges it will face this season.

Three meets into the season, the Cardinals sport a sparkling 3-0 record, their latest win coming against one of its biggest rivals and toughest competitors, New Canaan High School.

Winning 10 of 12 events and receiving numerous impressive performances in the process, Greenwich outscored visiting FCIAC foe New Canaan, 120-66, on Oct. 1, improving its record to 3-0 for first-season head coach Megan Kelly. The Cardinals’ victory against the Rams came one meet after defeating Staples, another FCIAC rival, 106-72.

Indeed, the high expectations and goals are the same as always for the Cardinals, who are captained by seniors Ellison Charette, Julia Kozma, Izzie Nassa and Kensie Worden.

“We want to win, when we swim, we want to win it all and I know we’re capable of that,” said Worden, who is helping pace the Cardinals in numerous events. “Every time we get into the pool at practice. I have complete confidence that we can put up a good fight again this year. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The 2025 season saw Greenwich win the team title at the CIAC State Open Championships with 721 points, claim the CIAC Class LL title (1,038.5 points) and garner the FCIAC crown (501 points). Rival Ridgefield was the runner-up in the team standings at the State Open, Class LL Championships and FCIAC championship meet.

Greenwich boasts an unprecedented history that includes 32 CIAC Class LL championships, 24 State Open titles and 33 FCIAC championships.

“I’m definitely super excited to have a good dual meet record and do really well at FCIACs, LLs and Opens and just to get all the freshmen to all those big meets and get everyone better,” said Ellison Charette, who like a number of senior athletes on the squad, has competed on the varsity team since her freshman season.

This fall season does have a different look for the Cardinals. Megan Kelly, a 1997 Greenwich High School graduate, is Greenwich’s new head coach. Kelly replaces Brendan Heller, who was hired to lead the Cardinals in 2021 and spent the past five successful seasons at the helm.

Heller coached GHS to the team title at the FCIAC championships in 2021, 2023 and 2025, to the CIAC Class LL championship in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025 and the CIAC State Open championship in 2021, 2023 and 2025.

“It’s very exciting, I’m filling big shoes,” said Kelly, whose daughter, Evie, a sophomore, swims on the squad. “The program here is prestigious, I swam here myself for Dick Hawks. “The girls here work really hard and they’re extremely passionate, they’re a fun group to coach, so that was really appealing to me.”

A Greenwich native, coach Kelly proceeded to swim at the University of California Santa Barbara after graduating from GHS, where she competed for winning teams under the direction of coach Dick Hawks. Kelly’s assistant coach is J.J. Worden, Kensie’s mother. The coaching staff is especially impressed with the leadership the team’s seniors have exhibited.

“We have a great group of seniors,” coach Kelly noted. “They’re very seasoned, they’re excellent swimmers, they’ve been great providing cohesiveness to the team, when there were a lot of unknowns over the summer, they really stepped up.”

“I think they’re really excited about the season and they are extremely supportive of the rest of the team,” coach Kelly continued. “We have a very strong team like we typically do. We graduated a large number of scoring seniors last year and we did get some freshmen in, but they do have some very big shoes to fill.”

The Cardinals’ senior captains have certainly embraced their increased roles and responsibilities this fall.

“I love it, I remember talking to one of my friend’s parents a couple of months ago and she was saying it’s one thing when coaches or adults see you in that leadership role, but it’s a totally different thing when your peers see you that way,” Kensie Worden said. “I’m really honored to lead the team this season.”

Said Nassa of her role as one of the captains: “It’s awesome, this program has done a lot for me and meant a lot for me, so it’s really special to be able to lead the team and do what I’ve watched girls that I’ve looked up to over the years do.”

Charette noted: “It definitely feels super good, especially to lead a team from Greenwich. The girls and boys teams here have a ton of success and I think it’s a big accomplishment to get and it’s super fun to lead a good group of strong girls.”

The Cards’ meet against the Rams began with Kozma, junior Sara Jee, Worden and junior Anna Whitridge combining to win the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:53.08. Greenwich also finished second, as freshman Vivian Jacoby, sophomore Alden Charette, sophomore Meredith McDermott and Nassa posted a time of 1:55.94. New Canaan was third in 2:01.48.

Ellison Charette touched the wall first for GHS in the 200-yard freestyle, registering a time of 1:58.41. Teammate Olivia DeVries, a junior, was the runner-up in 2:01.36 and Cara Huang of New Canaan took third (2:05.43).

In the 200-yard individual medley, Nassa swam Greenwich’s top time, clocking in at 2:19.13, good for second place.

“It’s amazing, this is my favorite three months of the year and these girls are my closest friends,” Nassa said of competing for the Cardinals, who have been the premier team in Connecticut over the years. “We all work had and push each other, but we also support each other and cheer each other on, it’s really special.”

“Last year was awesome, we worked really hard all season and it really paid off,” continued Nassa, who mostly competed in the 200 IM and the 100 freestyle at the end of last season. “It was great to see all our hard work pay off and come to light.”

Worden won the 50-yard freestyle race in a time of 25.46 seconds. Close behind her was Whitridge (26.01) and New Canaan freshman Caroline Santaniello (26.06).

The one-meter diving event took place on Sept. 29th and Cardinals sophomore Alden Charette was the diving winner. One of the best junior divers in the nation, Charette is a USA Diving Junior National Champion.

Alden Charette also represented the United States at Junior Worlds in Croatia in August.

“The divers have been excellent,” Kelly said. “We have one of the top divers in the country if not the world. Alden Charette – she is ranked 11^th in the world in the one-meter. It’s always a treat to watch her dive. She’s also a phenomenal swimmer. 

Swimming after diving to victory the previous day, Alden Charette was the 100-yard butterfly winner against New Canaan. She touched the wall in a winning time of 1:00.91, adding six more points to Greenwich’s results. Huang placed second for the Rams (1:02.12), while Santaniello was third (1:02.63). Kozma finished fourth in the butterfly for GHS (1:02.94).

“I feel pretty confident about it,” Kozma said of her outlook on the season. “We have a lot of new swimmers, it’s a pretty young team and we’re all really excited about the season, before reflecting on last year’s success.

“It was super exciting, we got a Triple Crown and hopefully, we can do it again this year,” Kozma noted. I think our depth, that’s how we’ve always won against other teams. We don’t just have super-fast swimmers, but we also have a good middle ground and the points add up.”

Worden took top honors in the meet in the 100 freestyle, recording a first-place time of 56.24 seconds. Emilia Bieliauskaite from New Canaan placed a very close second (56.47). Ellison Charette showed her stamina in winning the 500-yard freestyle, registering a time of 5:16.48. DeVries was third for the Cards in 5:24.48.

Worden, Norah Eldredge, Anna Whitridge and Ellison Charette teamed up for a winning time of 1:43.74 in the 200 freestyle relay race. Cardinals teammates Alden Charette, Jacoby, Jee and DeVries had a second place finish (1:44.26).

In the 100 backstroke, McDermott was the winner for GHS (1:04.53). Jacoby finished second in 1:06.39. Santaniello won the 100 breaststroke for the Rams (1:11.45) and Jee earned a second place finish (1:12.43) for the Cardinals.

The meet concluded with Greenwich’s 400 freestyle relay racers of Ellison Charette, Kozma, Eldredge and Whitridge combining for a winning mark of 3:39.35. Greenwich’s meet against visiting New Canaan also celebrated National Women’s Health and Fitness Day with a “Ladies in Red” them. Both teams feature red as a team color and fans were encouraged to wear red.

Greenwich’s next meet against an FCIAC opponent is Oct. 14th against Ridgefield on the road.

“Ridgefield has been our really big contender in the past, so it will be cool to see how everything plays out this year,” Ellison Charette said.

Like Ellison Charette, Worden has competed on the varsity squad since her freshman year. She reflected joining the Cards as a freshman

“I remember when I was a freshman,” Worden said. “It was a lot trying to adjust to this program, because I never swam for something bigger for myself. Club swimming is totally different, because your only goal is to beat your own time.”

“But here, you’re swimming for your team,” she continued. “I know at first that was a little new to me, but once championship season came around, I adjusted to it and it’s so much fun. Every day, you get to feel support from your teammates and it helps push that progress along.”

Having enough athletes to compete in each event isn’t an issue for the Cardinals.

“We do have great depth and we had some excellent swims from some of the freshmen and sophomores and even the JV girls that moved up to varsity this year,” coach Kelly said. “There were some really good swims, people really stepped up.”

Of course, the Greenwich squad is well aware of what they want to accomplish.

“There are high expectations,” Kelly said. “We always would love to win the Triple Crown, which we did last year. We definitely have our work cut out for us this year, because we did lose so many scoring seniors. But I think it’s definitely something that is possible this year. The girls have been working extremely hard in the pool, so I think that it will pay off when it comes to championship season.”

“I’m really excited this year, we have a lot of new freshmen and we have girls who have moved up from JV team, so I think it will be a special thing to show them how  the team works and how we do everything at championship meets,” Ellison Charette noted.