Taylor Ault, Courtney Hanson & Elise Garcia Come up Big at Younger Junior Olympics

La Mirada Armada 10 & under swimmer, Taylor Ault excels this year at Belmont Plaza.  Taylor set 4 Armada Club Records, won the 200 Freestyle, placed 2nd in the 100 Free, took 3rd in the 50 Free and another 3rd place finish in the 200 IM - not a bad weekend.  But all this pales in the shadow of Taylor's time in the finals of the 100 Free - 59.64.  She set a goal of breaking a minute for the event back in September and it all came true right on the date she said it would happen. To break a minute in the 100 Free is a very special achievement for any age-group swimmer, but to do this as a 10 year-old is huge, it was a monster swim, way to go Taylor.

Also scoring at the meet was Courtney Hanson in the 50 and 100 Breaststroke.  Courtney dropped 3.16 seconds to place 3rd going into the finals.

Elise was seeded 8th going into the finals of the 50 Free and moved up to 5th in the finals.  She also scored in the 200 Free and the 50 Fly.  Great job girls.

La Mirada Armada Holiday Gift Drive

La Mirada Armada is reviving a long-held tradition, from our days as Industry Hills Aquatic Club, in helping local people in need during the holidays.  We have contacted Beatitudes of Our Lord Church in La Mirada and have offered to assist them in making this time of year a little better for some very needy families in the area and we need your help.  They have given us 10 families to assist.  No gift is too small, every bit helps and even just a single toy can make all the difference to a child who might otherwise go without. The Armada Booster Club will be providing a basket with all the makings of a traditional turkey or ham holiday dinner and we would like our swimmers to purchase a new, unwrapped toy for the children in these families. 

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Armada Swimmers Sign Early  With Stanford and Cal

      Samantha Shellem and Kirstie Chen, two of the top recruits in the country, ended the suspense early by signing NCAA letters of intent prior to the early signing deadline.  Samantha signed with the Cal Berkely Bears and Kirstie signed with Stanford University.  Both athletes will be on athletic scholarships as freshmen. 

     "I couldn't be prouder of these two young ladies", commented coach Shipherd," two of the best swimmers to ever come through our program, two of the best people to ever come through our program, attending two of the best universities in the nation.  Wow, I can't begin to tell you how satisfying that is."    Click here for the rest of the story

La Mirada's Athletes Prepare for National Championships

      Five Armada high school athletes have qualified to swim in our US National Championships in early December.  Brennan Jacobsen, Kirstie Chen, Jessica Marsh and Samantha Shellem will head to Seattle, Washington to compete in the 2009 AT&T Short Course National Championships, December 3 - 6.  Following the National Champioship Jessica Marsh will go on to join teammate Nikki Chang in Columbus, Ohio, December 10 - 12, for the Junior National Championships.  The five Armada swimmers are no strangers to National level competition.   Click here for the rest of the story

Armada Coach, Don Garman Receives Coach of the Year Award

      Don Garman, longtime swim coach and current Head Age Group Coach at the La Mirada Armada Swim Team, has been named Age Group Coach of the Year by the American Swimming Coaches Association (ASCA). This award is given annually to individuals whose coaching effectiveness has contributed to swimming excellence at the Age Group level. Selected by peers, the ASCA Coach of the Year is a highly coveted honor and is considered one of the highest recognitions available within the swimming community.  Click here for the rest of the story

Armada Swimmers Triumph at Kevin Perry Senior Invitational

      The La Mirada Armada recorded another successful swim competition at the Kevin Perry Senior Invitational Swim Meet. Hosted by the Fullerton Aquatics Swim Team (FAST), the meet is a memorial to Kevin Perry, the Head Coach of FAST from 1993 until he passed away in 2007. The Invitational meet has grown in size and stature since its first meeting in 2008. Among the entrants in last weekend's meet were world record holders Kosuke Katijima and Ariana Kukors plus American record holders Katie Hoff and Margaret Hoelzer, and Olympians Hidemasa Sano and Tamas Kerekjarto.   Click here for the rest of the story

La Mirada Armada Swimmers Score High in IMX Challenge at Belmont Plaza

      Head Age Group Coach. Don Garman announced the recent success of The Armada Swim Team at the IMX/Sprint Cup Challenge hosted by the Beach Swim Club at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Ca.. Site of many Olympic swimming trials as well as NCAA championship swim meets, the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool is recognized for its excellent pool facilities and the fast swim times achieved there.
     This was the first competition for The Armada in the newly established IMX Challenge which assigns IMX points for each event based on the ranking of the swimmer's times in the International IMX point standards.  Click here for the rest of the story

First Annual Potluck Recognition Dinner a Huge Success

     The La Mirada Armada swim team began the 2009-2010 swim season by hosting its annual team meeting and recognition dinner at the Splash Aquatic Center in La Mirada, Ca. on Saturday, October 4, 2009. The event enjoyed a large turn-out of families eager to hear Head Coaches Rick Shipherd and Don Garman recap the prior year's accomplishments as well as the goals for the new year. After everyone enjoyed a wide variety of foods and deserts, each coach was introduced and given an opportunity to honor their swimmers who achieved noteworthy accomplishments during the previous year.  Shirts and caps were provided by Speedo as awards for each accomplishment.    Click here for the complete story

Summer Concludes with Three Great Meets for the Armada

     In competitive swimming the months of July and August are very important every year.  It is in those two months of summer that the entire worth of a year's work is often determined - and this year was no different.  The Armada senior swimmers were tested in three championship meets over four weeks in July and August: Western Sectionals, the US Open and the US Junior Nationals.  In all three meets the Armada achieved some great results.

     The team's championship efforts began with Western Sectionals in Clovis California.  Fifteen La Mirada swimmers qualified for the four day meet which took place at the new Clovis North Aquatic Center.  Both the Armada men's and women's teams were in the thick of the team races.       Click here for the rest of the story