Down to just seven swimmers in the pool, Sequim figured to have an uphill climb – or swim, as it were – against Port Townsend’s Redskins.

They were right.

Port Townsend swam past the Wolves 127-35 in the first meet of the season at Sequim’s home pool, the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center, on Oct. 1.

"They’re great – a lot of (Port Townsend’s) really fast swimmers are freshmen, too," Sequim coach Linda Moats said. "I’m really happy for them – they’ve been struggling for years."

Last season, Sequim beat Port Townsend 106-58.

It’s the first time the Redskins have beaten the Wolves’ girls team since the two schools began meeting back in 2001, a span of 13 meets.

Last week, able to put just one swimmer in seven events and none in two more, the Wolves simply didn’t have enough to match Port Townsend’s 13-member team’s depth.

Still, Sequim’s 200 medley relay squad of Autumn Kessinger, Anna Mittmann, Rachel Hughes and Rachel Hardy posted a 2:30.58 finish, four seconds better than they swam two days earlier and less than a second off the West Central District meet qualifying time.

Hughes backed that up with a district-qualifying time in the 200 individual medley (2:56.61).

Hardy posted two first-place finishes, winning the 100 and 200 free events.

Natalie McMurray shed nine seconds off her best 100 backstroke time while Mittmann saw a two-second improvement in the 100 breaststroke.

"Some of the girls are improving quickly," Moats said. "Overall, we’re slowly becoming a more experienced and competitive team."

Port Townsend posted eight district-qualifying swims and one state-qualifying swim.

Sequim is home for four more consecutive home meets. The Wolves were scheduled to host Bremerton on Oct. 6 – results were unavailable at press time.

Sequim hosts Port Angeles on Oct. 8, Steilacoom on Oct. 13 and Olympic on Oct. 15 before swimming at North Kitsap (Poulsbo) on Oct. 22, the final regular meet of the season.

Spartans splash Wolves

It could have been worse.

Bainbridge took the heat off Sequim in several events by scoring swimmers in "exhibition" heats as the large Spartans squad beat Sequim 105-42 on Sept. 29 in Bainbridge.

"We appreciate their sportsmanship," Moats said. "Some of our girls swam events they hadn’t before and it was great for them to reach this goal."

Sequim’s 200 free relay squad (Hardy, Hughes, Kessinger and Ellie Hubbard) punched their ticket to districts with a qualifying 2:14.55 mark.

Hardy had Sequim’s best individual swim, taking first in the 50 free by edging Bainbridge’s Cameo Hlebasko by 0.02 seconds. Hardy added a strong swim in the 100 butterfly, dropping five seconds off her previous best and less than three seconds off a district qualifying time.

Three swimmers – Kessinger, Hubbard and Serena Okamoto – dropped time from their bests in the 100 freestyle.

"All in all, it was a good meet for us and the girls had fun," Moats said.

Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.