Our club is a USA Swimming year-round competitive swim team offering high-quality professional coaching and technique instruction for children of all abilities ranging from seven to eighteen years of age. Our club aims to allow every member to improve their swimming skills and achieve success commensurate with their level of ability, from novice to international competitor, in a safe team environment where they grow from their experiences.
BISC strives to instill outstanding sportsmanship, personal leadership and a passion for racing within each swimmer.
Bainbridge Island Swim Club is a nonprofit club administered under the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District. It is supported by a volunteer Parent Booster Club elected Board of Directors, which meets each month.
We are constantly growing and training young athletes to maintain a well-rounded competitive swim team. We welcome all inquiries about joining our club and look forward to meeting you! Please feel free to contact any club member or coach for answers to your questions.
To join BISC contact Coach Leilani Tonsmann thru email: Leilani@biparks.org or Head Coach Monique Shelton at moniques@biparks.org to schedule a tryout. Swimmers who are 7- or 8-year-olds should be at Manta Ray level in the lesson program. Swimmers who are 9-13 years of age should be dolphin or Splash program graduates, Swimmers 14 and older should have some prior team experience. Contact us to discuss if our program is a good fit for your swimmer.
Levels, Fees & Payment Policies
Levels & Fees
Bronze
Swimmers have a basic understanding of the four competitive strokes. At this level, training is focused on refining basic strokes, learning starts, and turns. The minimum age is 7 years old. There are three practices per week.
$145/mo.
Silver
Swimmers are proficient in all four strokes and have achieved Silver time standards from PNS swimming. They are assigned to a group by the coach. Swimmers are elementary school age. There are four practices per week.
$175/mo.
Copper
Younger swimmers who can do a 100 IM in under 1:45 and older swimmers are new to the sport. Both younger and older swimmers are striving for Gold time standards and have silver time standards. The coach assigns group placement. (10-13 year olds) There are four practices per week.
$195/mo.
Gold
Swimmers achieving gold PNS time standards. The coach assigns group placement. For ages 10-13. There are five practices per week.
$225/mo.
Champs
Swimmers achieving or striving to achieve PNS Champs standards. Group placement is assigned by the coach. For ages 11-14. There are six practices per week.
$255/mo.
Regional
Swimmers have Regional time standards for 13 & older and are striving for Senior Sectional standards. Group placement is assigned by the coach. For ages 13-17. There are eight practices per week
$275/mo.
Sectional
Swimmers who have achieved Sectional times and are striving for Jr. National standards in multiple strokes. The coach assigns group placement. For ages 15-18. There are eight practices per week
$290/mo.
Jr National
Swimmers who have achieved Jr. National time standards and are striving for National-level meets. Group placement is assigned by the coach. For ages 15-18. There are eight to nine practices per week
$310/mo.
BISC/BHS:
This group is only available for the three months your swimmer does high school swim/dive program. They will continue doing up to three practices per week with BISC and competitions.
$175
*All swimmers are members of USA Swimming and pay a yearly membership fee.
Multi-athlete Discount Policy:
| # of members | Discount % |
| 2 | 3% |
| 3 | 3.4% |
| 4 | 3.7% |
| 5 | 4.1% |
Payment Policies
Payment Policy
Installment billing is processed on or after the 5th day of each month for the current month. If you choose not to have your credit card billed automatically for the monthly BISC dues, a statement for the balance due will be sent via e-mail. All payments are due by the 25th of each month.
Each swimmer’s bill will be generated during the first week of each month for the upcoming month, and an email notification of the balance due or payments made will be sent by email each month. All payments are due by the end of the second Friday of each month (electronic installment billing ensures this will be the case). If you do not sign up for automatic installment billing, you must make timely payments.
Late Payment
If payment is not received by the last day of the month, the swimmer(s) may be removed from practice until the account is settled. Additionally, for any invoices not paid in full by the 25th of the month, a late fee of $20 will be charged to your account.
While this may sound strict, the only way we can run BISC on a balanced budget is to enforce the payment of fees rigorously. Remember that BISC has coaches’ salaries, benefits, and facility maintenance to pay each month, so these policies are designed to keep our costs down and hold our team fiscally responsible.
Guidelines for the Use of the BISC Leave of Absence/Change of Billing Form
Reason for absence/change
- Intention to participate in both BHS swim & Dive/ BISC (for meets & up to 3 practices a week) **Girls LOA / Sept. 1st thru Nov. 30th **Boys LOA / Dec. 1st thru Feb. 28th
- Leave the team permanently
- Medical Issue (1-month limit once a calendar year/medical documentation required)
- Change in billing group levels (coach approved)
- Leave of absence to participate in BHS Swim Team ONLY /**Girls LOA / Sept. 1st thru Nov. 30th **Boys LOA / Dec. 1st thru Feb. 28th
Example: If you request a leave of absence from the team for June, your LOA request must be submitted by May 25 to provide the proper notice.
BISC coaches must approve the request and then deliver it to the pool or mailed to the Bainbridge Island Park & Recreation District, 11700 NE Meadowmeer Circle.
Coaches
Monique Shelton
Head Coach — moniques@biparks.org
Monique was born in Long Beach, California, and is a level 5 Coach. She brings 40+ years of experience competing and coaching at the highest levels. Monique joined her first swim team at the age of 3, at nationally known Phillips 66, and has loved the water ever since. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in education and is a published research author in swimming. Coach Monique began coaching professionally right out of college at Northeast Missouri State University, an NCAA Division II program (now named Truman State University), where she was able to do research in addition to her coaching responsibilities. Desiring to move west after four years, she began teaching middle school and club coaching. She grew a small local team called Streamline Aquatics (1991-1998) from 60 to 150 swimmers. She produced multiple Jr. National Qualifiers, National Qualifiers, and an Olympic Trials Qualifier. She was named Age Group Coach of The Year for Southern California Swimming – Eastern Section during her time at Streamline.
Coach Monique took a hiatus from the swimming world to pursue other passions — fire service, home renovations, and entrepreneurship — but soon found herself back on deck. She coached the top Age Groupers and was Strength Coach /National Team Assistant to Dave Kelshiemer, a 2016 & 2020 USA Olympic Team Coach. She assisted her team in developing several nationally ranked athletes, National Team members, and National junior team members, including Olympian Jordan Wilimovsky -1500M and Open Water 10K Olympic Team member 2016/2020. Monique then left to take on the Head Coaching responsibilities at Beach Cities Swimming, where she worked from 2013-2023.
Monique has been involved in the governance of the sport all along the way. Under her watchful eye, she has coached over 75 Sectional qualifiers, 39 Futures qualifiers, 26 Junior National qualifiers, 11 US Open qualifiers, 8 National qualifiers, 1 Para Olympic Trials qualifier, 3 Olympic Trials qualifiers, a 3-time Jr National Champion & National Jr Team Member. She is on the National Team Coaches’ List. Philosophically, Coach Monique believes, “It is pretty simple: I believe in ‘physical literacy’ on land and in the water. I believe in quality over quantity. High-quality work will win out over talent every time.”
“I am honored and excited to join Bainbridge Island Swim Club and its rich history of success. I look forward to working with our athletes, families, and the Parks and Recreation Department staff to lead this team to be the best it can be. Let’s go BISC!”
Leilani Tonsmann (Age Group Coach of the Year 2019)
Lead Age Group Coach — leilani@biparks.org
Teaching children in and out of the pool is her passion. Along with coaching BISC swimmers (2009), she also works as a parks department swim instructor. She holds a BA in Education from Arizona State, where she swam competitively from 1984-87. After graduating, she taught elementary school for eight years and concurrently obtained her MA in Education from CWU. She has previously coached summer league swimmers in Arizona and Washington and has brought her ASCA Level 3 status as a coach. She is available for private lesson instruction through the Aquatic Center Parks program.
Katherine Fort
Age Group Assistant Coach – katherinef@biparks.org
Katherine is originally from Seattle and grew up swimming for Wedgwood Swim Club, Swim Seattle, and Roosevelt High School. She attended Scripps College in Claremont, CA, where she swam for CMS (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps). She has coached summer league, high school, and club teams have recently been back in the water, swimming with Bainbridge Aquatic Master’s (BAM). She is a licensed mental health counselor and counseling professor at Antioch University Seattle. She loves to help people of all ages connect to their authentic selves, build positive support communities, and harness inner strength and resilience, especially through swimming! She lives on Bainbridge Island with her husband and two boys, Jonathan and Lukas.
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