Wells Branch Armada

The 2026 swim season has come to an unforgettable finish, and what a way to close it out! Our swimmers battled through the Division 4 Championship, proudly represented the Armada at the NWSC Invitational, celebrated new team records, personal bests, and championship victories, and showed the determination and sportsmanship that defined our team all summer long. In this final newsletter, we're celebrating the accomplishments of our swimmers, recognizing everyone who helped make this season a success, and looking ahead to a few final opportunities to come together as the Armada family. Thank you to our swimmers, coaches, volunteers, sponsors, and families for making 2026 a season we will always remember.

by Patrick Ricci, President

Wow, Armada families—I can’t believe the season is (almost) over! Summer swim always seems to fly by. Between daily practices, stroke clinics, early morning meets, Meet the Coaches, Swim-a-thon, and our new pep rallies, we have packed a lot into just a couple of months. To our new families, I hope your first season with Armada has felt as special as ours did five years ago—and that it marks the beginning of many wonderful summers with our team.

I hope everyone will join us for Awards Night on Tuesday and Meat Raffle & Music Night on Thursday. Awards Night is always a special evening to celebrate every swimmer, recognize accomplishments, say goodbye to our aging-out swimmers, and reflect on a great season together.

As we wrap up the season, I want to say thank you to every swimmer, parent, coach, volunteer, and supporter who helped make this summer such a memorable one. Armada is special because of the energy, encouragement, and community each of you brings to the pool. Whether this was your first season or one of many, I hope you leave with great memories, new friendships, and a strong sense of pride in all our team accomplished together. Go Armada!

By: Coach Maddie

Armada family, what an incredible season it has been! It's so hard to believe we've reached the finish line already.

To our swimmers: thank you for the hard work, determination, and enthusiasm you brought to the practices every day, and meets every weekend. You’ve all shown tremendous growth this season. Whether you set a record or a personal best, perfected a new stroke, conquered a challenging event, earned ribbons, or gained confidence in yourself, you should all be proud of what you’ve accomplished this year. You represented Armada with heart and perseverance from our first day to our last.

To our parents: thank you for everything you’ve done to make this season possible. From daily practices, early mornings (some very early mornings), and long meet days of volunteering and cheering, your commitment makes this all possible! Thank you for trusting us to coach your amazing kiddos and for being such an important part of our Armada family.

One of my favorite parts of every season is seeing the pride and sense of community that makes this team so special. The friendships and team spirit are what truly set Armada apart.

Thank you all for another memorable season!

Armada 2.0:

The coaches are excited for the opportunity to remain in the water for an extra month. For those of you who (like us) aren’t quite ready to say goodbye yet, please join us for our extended season!

Armada 2.0 will start July 6th and run Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until July 31st. This summer we will have one session from 10:30-11:45. If you are interested, please contact Coach Gina for registration :)

Join us this Tuesday, June 30, as we celebrate an unforgettable 2026 Wells Branch Armada season! We'll recognize our swimmers' accomplishments, present our season awards, including the High Point Awards, celebrate our graduating seniors, thank our amazing coaches and volunteers, and look back on the many memories that made this summer so special.

Whether your swimmer is receiving an award or simply coming to celebrate with teammates, we hope every Armada family will join us for one final evening together. Let's wrap up an incredible season by celebrating the hard work, friendships, and team spirit that made 2026 one to remember.

🗓 Date: Tuesday, June 30, 2026
🕕 Time: 6:30 PM
📍 Location: Wells Branch Community Church 2113 Wells Branch Pkwy #500, Austin, TX 78728. See map.

by Deanna Johnson

The swim season may be over, but the fun isn't! Join us this Thursday, July 2, from 6:00–9:00 PM at Hanover's Draught Haus for one of the Armada's favorite summer traditions.

Admission is FREE, so bring the whole family, invite your friends, and enjoy an evening of great entertainment, delicious food, and Armada camaraderie. We'll have special performances throughout the night from Braylon, Phearce, Hallie & Lola, Levi Johnson and the Adventurers, and we'll wrap up the evening with a fun performance by Coaches Reese & Caden.

Of course, the highlight of the night is the Armada Meat Raffle! Purchase raffle tickets for your chance to win premium steaks, briskets, ground beef, pork, and other great prizes. Every round brings new winners, lots of cheering, and plenty of excitement, all while supporting the Wells Branch Armada.

Two food trucks will be on site if you'd like to grab dinner, so come hungry and stay for the fun. It's the perfect way to celebrate another incredible Armada season with friends, laughter, music, and maybe even a cooler full of meat to take home!

Flyer by Sloan Carreon!

Keep the Armada spirit going by joining us at one of Wells Branch's favorite community traditions, FourthFest! Even though the swim season has ended, this is one more opportunity to celebrate together as a team.

Cheer for the Armada parade entry or walk alongside your teammates through the streets of Wells Branch wearing your Armada shirt and your best red, white, and blue. Decorate your bikes, wagons, strollers, or scooters, and help us fill the parade route with Armada pride.

After the parade, head over to Katherine Fleischer Park to enjoy free watermelon, family activities, games, local vendors, live entertainment, and all the fun FourthFest has to offer. We hope to see lots of Armada families there as we celebrate our community and an incredible 2026 season together.

📍 Key Info:

• Appointment: Saturday July 4th at 10:00 AM
• Location: Katherine Fleischer Park

❤️🤍💙 We hope to see all Armada families there. Let's finish the season with one more splash of Armada spirit! 

Congratulations to our Division 4 Champions and every Armada swimmer who competed at this year's Divisional Championship! The Division 4 Championship is the culmination of the team season, bringing together the top four teams in the division to compete for individual titles, relay victories, and valuable team points. Every race was fiercely contested, making every medal, every point, and every personal best an achievement to celebrate.

We are incredibly proud of the determination, resilience, and sportsmanship our swimmers displayed throughout the meet. Whether you stood atop the podium, helped score points for the Armada, achieved a new personal best, or simply gave your very best effort, you played an important role in our team's success. Thank you for representing the Wells Branch Armada with pride, heart, and outstanding team spirit throughout an unforgettable championship meet.

Div 4 Championship

Congratulations to our Divisional and Invitational Champion relay teams for delivering some of the most exciting moments of the Championship Meet! In a meet where every point matters, these swimmers came together to represent Armada at its very best. Through strong starts, smooth exchanges, determined racing, and unforgettable finishes, they demonstrated the teamwork, trust, and competitive spirit that define great relay swimming. We are incredibly proud of these championship performances and of every relay swimmer who contributed to the Armada's success. When four swimmers race as one team, amazing things happen.

Div 4 Championship

As we wrap up another incredible Armada season, we're excited to recognize our final Fast Fishies of the year! Throughout the summer, these awards have celebrated swimmers who made the biggest improvements in the pool, and this week’s winners finished the season with an impressive splash. These swimmers earned recognition by posting the largest cumulative time drops within their age group and category, a testament to months of hard work, determination, and dedication at practice.

Congratulations to all of our Fast Fishies this season. Every time drop, every personal best, and every goal achieved helped make 2026 a memorable year for the Armada.

For more information about the Fast Fishy Award and other weekly recognitions, please visit the Weekly Awards FAQ on the Armada website.

* Previous fast fishy award, the swim cap award rolls down but the repeated award winner will get a special prize.

Please join us in celebrating the final Triple Drop Club members of the 2026 season! These swimmers accomplished the impressive feat of improving their personal best times in all three of their individual events at the Division 4 Championship. Dropping time across an entire championship meet is no easy task. At the end of a long season, swimmers are racing against the fastest competition they have faced all summer, making every improvement especially meaningful.

These outstanding performances are the result of months of dedication, early morning practices, perseverance, and the determination to deliver their very best when it mattered most. Congratulations to our final Triple Drop Club members for ending the 2026 season on a high note and achieving one of the Armada's most rewarding accomplishments. What an incredible way to finish the summer!

Div 4 Championship

Congratulations to our 2026 Record Breakers! At the final meet of the season, these swimmers earned a permanent place in Armada history by establishing new team records that will stand as the official benchmarks until a future Armada swimmer surpasses them. Championship meets feature the strongest competition of the entire summer, making these performances even more remarkable.

A special congratulations goes to our Boys 11–12 100 Medley Relay, whose incredible swim broke a team record that had stood since 2014, and to our swimmer who captured the 100 Individual Medley record, ending a mark that had remained untouched since 2015. Breaking records that have lasted more than a decade is a testament to exceptional talent, determination, and countless hours of hard work.

We are incredibly proud of every record breaker and grateful for the unforgettable performances that helped make the 2026 season one for the history books.

Div 4 Championship

🏆 Boys 11-12 200 Freestyle Relay - 2:00.66 Old: 2:00.72

* D'Zion Booker-Thompson, Darrell Christmas, Hayden Wu, Lucas McGuire

Invitationals

🏆 Boys 11-12 100 Medley Relay - 59.73 Old: 59.98

* D'Zion Booker-Thompson, Darrell Christmas, Hayden Wu, Lucas McGuire

🏆 Braylon Ward - Boys 9–10 100 Individual Medley - 1:16.91 Old: 1:17.97

🏆 Lucas McGuire - Boys 11–12 100 Freestyle - 1:03.46 Old: 1:02.16

Congratulations to our newest NWSC Invitational qualifier! At Saturday's Division 4 Championship, one Armada swimmer earned a first-ever qualifying time and secured a spot in Sunday's Invitational, proving that determination can pay off right down to the final opportunity of the season.

Several of our returning qualifiers also delivered outstanding performances, swimming lifetime bests in one of the most challenging pools on the circuit. Competing in a shallow pool with unusually short starting blocks made fast swims anything but easy, making those personal bests even more impressive.

* First invitational qualifying time, will receive an invitational cap.