La Mirada Armada Swimmers Come Up Big at Metro Champs

   The 2010 Long Course Metro Championship Meet is history and the Armada swam great. There  were numerous best times that included several new long course JO standards and even a few new Armada club records.  We finished second in the large team division behind a much larger Lakewood Aquatic Club.  Every year it gets harder to win this meet as we tend to lose swims due to the JO cap on the meet (s swimmer cannot swim an event at the Metro Champs if they are JO’s for that event).  So, as we get better our team loses some of its scoring potential at this meet – it’s actually not a bad problem.  We should be very proud of our efforts and successes at this year’s Metro Champs.

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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