Wake Aquatics

Final tune-ups before Southeasterns! A few of our swimmers competed at the 2026 SE S&S LC Tsunami Summer Splash to sharpen up for championship season, finishing with 3 team records and 17 personal bests! 💥

Caleb Nelson lowered his own 11–12 boys’ 200-freestyle team record while also breaking Andrew Hilsmier’s 11–12 boys’ 50-backstroke record from 2021.

Mariana Becker broke the girls’ 10-and-under 100-freestyle team record, surpassing Noemi Camacho-Hughes’ mark that had stood since 2018.

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Wake Aquatics traveled to Auburn to race at the 2026 SE Richard Quick Invitational, where our swimmers delivered strong performances over the weekend!

At a meet with almost 650 swimmers, our swimmers amassed…
🥇 x 1
🥈 x 3
🥉 x 6
🔥 16 x Qualifiers for Finals
✨ 41 x Personal Records

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In collaboration with USA Swimming, the American Swimming Coaches Association named Wake Aquatics to the 2025 Top 50 Age Group Teams for small size teams (1–75 swimmers)!

As reported by SwimSwam, “this recognition is based on athletes ages 10-14, and all clubs were ranked using both the total number of athletes achieving AAA and AAAA+, as well the percentage of athletes achieving these time standards relative to their club size.”

Congratulations to our hard-working age groupers for helping us achieve this recognition!

Wake Aquatics competed locally at the 2026 Jack Barnacastle Invitational, ending up with 40 new personal records across our swimmers! Additionally, we had 11 new qualifying times for Southeastern Championships. 💥

Our swimmers headed to Opelika this past weekend for the 2026 Opelika Open, delivering top finishes and colossal time drops while enjoying outdoor racing!

MEET HIGHLIGHTS:

🥇 1st x 5
🥈 2nd x 7
🥉 3rd x 7

✨ Personal Records x 27

…And congratulations to Everett Pyron for getting his first Southeastern Championships qualifying time by almost a second in the 100 BR!

We are thrilled to celebrate Drew Hilsmier’s commitment to swimming Division 1 at Northwestern University!

“I am beyond honored to announce my verbal commitment to Northwestern University! Thank you to Coach Rachel, Coach Jacob, Coach Mario and the entire Northwestern coaching staff for their support throughout this process and for the opportunity to join them. Thank you to my family, Coach Bryan, and Coach Dan for their continuous support along the way. Go ‘Cats!”

We are so proud of Drew’s dedication and diligence!

Kicking off the long course season with the 2026 SES WAKE-CTA Spring Splash! Our swimmers already racked up 39 personal records, and we’re just getting started. 🥳

We’re proud of Drew Hilsmier for representing Wake at the ISCA International Senior Cup, where he qualified for finals in all of his events (most with over 200 swimmers entered!) along with setting two new personal records in the 100 IM and the 50 FL.

For M 17&O…
5th - 50 BK
7th - 100 IM, 50 FL, 50 FR, 100 FR
10th - 100 BK
14th - 100 FL

Way to go, Drew!

Just a week after Southeasterns, some of our age groupers capped off their short course season at the 2026 Swim Atlanta Best of the South! Eli Brightwell, Abby Champion, and Justin Lei each had multiple personal records, with both Justin and Abby qualifying for A Finals!

Abby Champion ⊹ ࣪ ˖
A Final (10th) for 100 FL (W 11-12)
A Final (9th) for 200 IM (W 11-12)

Justin Lei ⊹ ࣪ ˖
A Final (7th) for 50 BR (M 11-12)

✮⋆˙ 8 x Personal Records