Defeated by rival Ridgefield during a regular season dual meet, the members of Greenwich High School’s varsity swimming/diving team were intent on proving they weren’t second best when the much-anticipated FCIAC Championships took place and the Cardinals certainly made sure they received their sweet treat on Halloween.

After excelling at the FCIAC Swimming Trials on Wednesday and receiving standout performances from its divers at the conference diving finals on Thursday, Greenwich was in prime position to continue its reign of supremacy in the conference, which it did by flourishing at the FCIAC finals in what was a Halloween to remember for the most successful squad in the conference.

Winning five events, while recording numerous top-eight finishes, Greenwich captured the team title at the ultra-competitive FCIAC Championships for the second straight season, amassing 458 team points before a big crowd at the finals at Greenwich High School. The Cardinals edged Ridgefield, which had its sights set on winning the FCIAC championship, which they claimed in 2024. Ridgefield finished second in the team standings with a score of 439.5 points, followed by Darien (254 points), New Canaan (228.5 points) and Wilton (212). The meet, which featured plenty of fast swims, included 12 teams and saw the Cardinals win their 33rd FCIAC championship.

“It definitely feels so good, we had a little bit of a rougher dual meet season, we did lose to Ridgefield in a duel meet (a 110-76 road loss) so going into FCIACs, we were 100 percent underdogs,” Greenwich senior captain Ellison Charette said following the Cardinals’ FCIAC championship win. “We had a ton of new freshmen, so coming in here and winning this is a dream come true for everyone.”

Ellison’s sister Alden Charette, a sophomore, was named the Most Outstanding Athlete of the 2026 FCIAC Championships. Alden Charette won the FCIAC Diving championship, earning an astounding 568.90 points through 11 rounds of diving on the 1-meter diving board at Westhill High School at the diving finals on Oct. 29th.

Charette also swam on Greenwich’s winning 200-yard medley relay team and finished fifth in the 100-yard backstroke, so she aided the Cardinals’ cause at both the diving and swimming championship meets.

“It’s definitely been a lot of hard work having both swimming and diving, but I feel it really brings the team together,” Alden Charette said. “Being able to experience all this with the swimmers, while also being so close with all the divers I think is all so special.”

The FCIAC swimming finals began with Greenwich winning the 200-yard medley relay. Alden Charette, junior Sara Jee, senior captain Julia Kozma and senior captain Kensie Worden combined for a winning time of 1:46.23. Ridgefield was the runner-up (1:46.28) and Wilton finished third (1:46.75). Worden discussed her mindset entering the FCIAC finals after a strong trials.

“What I was thinking was that we all had each other,” Worden said. “For every slip up, one person might drop in place, or someone might not swim their best – for every person that did that, we’ve got another one whose rising in place and dropping. We have each other, we do this together.”

Ridgefield received a first-place finish from sophomore Mary Kelly in the 200-yard freestyle. Kelly touched the wall in 1:52.40 and Norwalk/McMahon junior Emma Giafardino was second in 1:52.93. Junior Olivia DeVries had Greenwich’s best finish, finishing fifth in 1:56.72. Ellison Charette (2:08.64) and Jee (2:09.64) were second and third, respectively, in the 200-yard individual medley. Zsofia Milak, a Ridgefield sophomore, won the FCIAC title in the 200 IM, posting a time of 2:07.36. Cardinals senior captain Izzie Nassa was eighth in the 200 IM (2:14.72).

“I was super happy with all my swims and all the relays I was super happy,” Ellison Charette noted. “In every swim that we had and every swim I was in, we had someone in the A final and all of our A finals had a ton of Greenwich kids and that was our goal. We were super excited to bring everyone together.”

“Having everyone be together in the A final, having everyone come together for this meet and working hard in practice motivated us all,” Ellison Charette added.

Worden claimed the first-place medal in the 50-yard freestyle race, registering a time of 23.70 seconds. Vedha Kongettira, a Wilton High High School senior, placed a close second (23.99 seconds) and senior Adrianna Spelman from Fairfield Warde took third (24.05).

“I’m thrilled, when I swim I want to win for my team,” Worden said of her gold medal winning performance at the FCIAC finals. “Pulling ahead in the medley relay and 50 free I was thrilled with.”

The Cardinals’ divers set the team up well entering the swimming portion of the FCIAC Championships, providing their squad with important points in the team standings. Executing excellent dives on the one-meter board, Alden Charette broke a Greenwich record in an 11-dive meet with 568.90 points to capture the FCIAC diving championship.

“My reverse dives got some 10s,” Alden said of her results at the diving finals. “I was happy with the results and I was happy that all the hard work paid off for me and all my team.”

Indeed, not too many high school athletes swim and dive for their respective teams.

“It’s definitely a lot every day, but seeing all my teammates work hard to it’s just special to have a supporting team,” Alden Charette noted. “I know they are always by my side.”

GHS first-season head coach Megan Kelly has been highly impressed with Alden Charette’s efforts on the 1-meter board and in the pool.

“Alden is amazing,” Kelly said. “She’s a special talent. Not only is she an unbelievably talented diver, she is also a phenomenal swimmer. I don’t know if anyone else has done that. The ability she has is incredible. She demolishes records in diving.”

Said Ellison Charette of her sister’s performances: “It’s been super cool, I’m so proud of her. You can’t count diving out, because diving scored us some valuable points. She did win FCIACs, which definitely brought us a ton of points.”

Also at the FCIAC Diving finals, Clemmie Whittle finished in eighth place for the Cards (316.35 points) and Alina Khilko was in 13th place for GHS (294.20 points). Alden Charette has been diving since she was nine years old and has competed at Diving Nationals and Diving Worlds, which took place in Croatia.

“It’s been such an amazing journey to get to here,” Alden said. “I was in Croatia this summer, it was definitely such a great experience. I had a great time.”

As for being named the FCIAC meet’s Most Outstanding Athlete?

“I’m so happy. Just to get this win means so much for Greenwich,” she said. I’m happy to do it for the team.”

Julia Kozma, a senior captain, took third for GHS in the 100 butterfly, posting a time of 57.65 seconds. Ilse Fedoronko from Darien won the event in 56.12.

“My swims were pretty good, I was just trying to at least stay where I was for the team, so I was really happy that I stayed in third place,” Kozma noted. “I’m so extremely proud of this entire team. With all the hard work we put in, we knew we could do it. After trials on Wednesday, our coach counted up the points and we had a small lead and we just went off of that and swam our best today. We got a big boost from our divers. Our divers did amazing on Thursday night.”

In the 100-yard freestyle, Worden earned the second-place medal with a time of 52.40. Kongettira was the FCIAC champion in the event, clocking in at 52.05 seconds. Junior Anna Whitridge (53.63) and Vivian Jacoby, a freshman (54.57) gave the Cards significant points in the standings, placing fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 100 freestyle.

Coach Kelly described how well the Cardinals’ athletes rose to the important occasion in the conference meet.

“Obviously, during the dual meet season it was a tough loss for us,” Kelly said, referring to the team’s defeat against Ridgefield. “Our girls went into that meet really tired and they were a little bit disappointed. Going into this meet on paper, without diving, we were roughly 25 to 30 points down, so I knew the key to success was trying to qualify as many girls as possible into the top eight and into the top 16.”

“A lot of them delivered on Wednesday (at the trials) and got into scoring position,” Kelly continued. “To me, I wanted to make sure that we had great swims on Wednesday and continued that momentum today and that’s what they did. I’m so proud of them.”

Kelly credited her senior captains and seniors on the team for helping guide their teammates during the course of the season.

“They have been fantastic,” Kelly said. “What a great group of girls I have leading the team this year. I’ve certainly leaned on them to provide the morale boost. They have led by example. They’re really great at hyping everyone up, but they’re also really good if someone doesn’t have a good swim, at comforting them and trying to get them excited and making sure that they’re in it for the team.”

Ellison Charette captured the FCIAC title in the 500-yard freestyle, winning the race in 5:00.90. Cardinals teammate Olivia DeVries, a junior, was fifth in 5:14.24 and senior captain Izzie Nassa took eighth (5:22.38).

“I was proud of myself, I got into both A finals, which was my goal and what I wanted to do and I went out there and gave it my all and I’m proud of myself,” noted Nassa, who also discussed the Cardinals’ motivation after their regular season loss to Ridgefield. “We lost obviously, in the dual meet season and we were in the pool the next morning and we were motivated and got back to work. I think it goes to show everyone’s hard work. The whole team did amazing and it all came together.”

In the 200 freestyle relay, Ellie Griffin, Dalia Katra, Mary Kelly and Zsofia Milak combined for a winning performance for Ridgefield, posting a time of 1:36.04. Whitridge, Jee, Charette Ellison and Worden placed an extremely close second in 1:36.15.

“We really fed off each other’s energy and we came out did what we needed to do,” Jee said. “The relays were really good also. We help each other so much and we were all so excited.”

Alden Charette (58.39) and Kozma (58.51) were fifth and sixth, respectively for the Cards in the 100 backstroke, which saw Trumbull sophomore Noelle Ivanovich win the title in 56.34. Jee garnered the silver medal in the 100 breaststroke for GHS (1:05.93). Katra of Ridgefield finished a blink of an eye ahead of her (1:05.89). Jacoby took seventh in the breaststroke (1:09.85).

“It felt really good, I’ve been working really hard with my breaststroke this year, especially with Megan, she’s taught me a lot and it felt really good to drop,” Jee said of her second-place performance in the 100 breaststroke.

The Cardinals also received a standout swim in the 400 freestyle relay, with Whitridge, DeVries, Kozma and Ellison Charette combining for a second-place time of 3:34.24. Ridgefield won the race in 3:31.51.

With another FCIAC championship in their possession, the Cardinals now turn their attention to the CIAC Class LL Championships.

The CIAC Class LL finals is scheduled to take place on Nov. 17th at Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford. The Class LL diving finals will be held on Nov. 11 at Plainville.

Greenwich, which has won the FCIAC title three times in four seasons, won the FCIAC, Class LL and State Open championships in 2025 – The Triple Crown.

The State Open Championships is scheduled to be held at Yale University on Nov. 22.

“We’re definitely looking to states now,” Nassa said. “We have a longer break than usual in between, so I’m excited for us to get back to work and hopefully, keep doing our best.”

“We’re ready to get back to work,” Jee noted.

Coach Kelly said: “I think it’s a great opportunity to reset and think about things we can improve upon. While we did swim really, really well, I think there’s opportunities for everyone to improve.”

“The best is yet to come,” Worden said.

Here’s more scenes from Greenwich’s victory at the FCIAC Championships.