PHS’s Lee Gjertson Commits to Swim at University of New Mexico

Lee Gjertson was 9 and already done with her swim club.

The practices were exhausting, the workouts demanding, and just splashing around in the water was way more fun than racing. Her father, Scott, offered her a deal: Beat him in a 50-yard flutter-kick race, kickboard in hand, and she could quit.

Scott won the first race, but a second one wasn’t needed. By the time she was fast enough to beat him, quitting was the last thing on her mind.

“I’m so glad I stuck with it because all the things I didn’t love about swimming then, I love about it now,” she said.

Nearly eight years later, the Peninsula High School senior is a league co-MVP, district champion, school-record holder, and team captain. In October, Gjertson added another accomplishment to the list: a commitment to swim at NCAA Division I University of New Mexico next fall.

Quite a resume for someone who spends nearly as much time on the marching field as she does in the pool.

Gjertson is also Peninsula’s drum major, a musician who plays several instruments, a theater performer and a volunteer — all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.

Making waves

By her freshman year at Peninsula, the former Minter Creek Elementary and Key Peninsula Middle School student had established herself as one of the Seahawks’ most promising young sprinters.

Last season, Gjertson won West Central District championships in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle and helped Peninsula capture the district title in the 200 freestyle relay. She finished ninth in the 100 freestyle and 10th in the 50 freestyle at the Class 3A state championships, helping the Seahawks finish ninth overall.

She also helped break a roughly 20-year-old school record in the 200 freestyle relay alongside teammates Boe Ballard, Sophia Evers, and Reese Miller.

Gjertson, who earned Puget Sound League co-MVP honors last season, hopes to add another school record before graduating. Her personal best of 24.84 seconds in the 50 freestyle is less than half a second from Peninsula’s longstanding record of 24.36.

“Winning is exciting, for sure, and it feels really good to win, but the most important thing to me is improving myself and getting faster,” she said.

Peninsula swim coach Hunter Hobbs said Gjertson works out so much outside the pool that coaches have to remind her to take a break. Her improved conditioning has allowed her to compete in longer events, including the 200 freestyle.

As a senior captain, Gjertson helps younger swimmers with technique, organizes teammates, provides rides and occasionally directs practice activities herself.

“She is an extension of us, really,” Hobbs said. “She helps us every day and really built the team up with us.”

Gjertson also helped Peninsula defeat rival Gig Harbor 116-69 Sept. 29, the Seahawks’ first dual-meet victory over the Tides since 2006. She won the 200 freestyle by 9 seconds and contributed to a relay victory.

Keeping the beat

When swim practice ends at 4:30 p.m., Gjertson has 30 to 45 minutes to change, eat, and get to the field. By 5:30, she’s leading the Peninsula High School marching band as drum major, and she won’t head home until 8:30.

The overlap is constant. A Friday night band performance at a football game often leads to a Saturday swim meet, or the reverse.

“I’ve grown to love it,” she said. “It just makes for some really long days.” Gjertson played clarinet during her first two years of marching before becoming a drum major as a junior. She also plays oboe, saxophone, and English horn.

Last fall, she added theater to her schedule, playing Laertes in Peninsula’s production of “Hamlet.”

As drum major, she conducts the band and helps lead rehearsals, working closely with her schoolmates.

Peninsula Director of Bands Megan Hilborn watched Gjertson grow from a freshman musician into a leader her peers trust.

“Her genuine kindness and warmth inspire her peers to follow her with enthusiasm and trust,” Hilborn said. “She leads not just with her hands, but with her heart.”

Gjertson found that leading a marching band and captaining a swim team require different approaches.

“In band, I have a more forward leadership because I do lead the band through all of our marching rehearsals,” she said, explaining that her swimming role is more about supporting teammates.

Her schedule occasionally forces her to miss swim practices for band competitions and vice versa. She credited her coaches and instructors with helping her manage both.

Beyond the competition

Gjertson takes college-level courses, completing much of her schoolwork in the morning before heading to campus for swimming and band.

She also volunteers with environmental organizations, participating in habitat restoration and litter cleanups. Closer to home, she has worked with students from Vaughn and Minter Creek elementary schools as a high school cabin leader at fifth-grade camp.

Both of her parents work in environmental education, and Gjertson grew up surrounded by the woods and water of the Key Peninsula.

“I’ve been around nature for my whole life, and I have a passion for protecting our climate,” she said.

At New Mexico, she plans to major in environmental science and eventually pursue graduate studies. She’s considered careers ranging from environmental education to working as a park ranger.

Although she doesn’t expect to continue marching in college, she hopes to keep playing music with community groups.

For now, Gjertson hopes to reach the podium at the Nov. 13-14 state championships in Federal Way, improve her personal bests, and perhaps break another school record. Hobbs believes her legacy at Peninsula will extend beyond the record books.

“I think this school will remember her less for her speed and more for who she is as a person,” he said.