Austin, TX
National Teamers Hunter Armstrong, Grant House Withdraw from Pro Swim Series – Austin
2026 PRO SWIM SERIES – AUSTIN
A revised version of the heat sheets for this weekend’s Pro Swim Series opener in Austin, Texas is absent a number of big names, with a handful of other significant scratches revealed by the Wednesday morning heat sheets.
Out of the Meet
The biggest names to have fully withdrawn from the meet include US National Team members Hunter Armstrong and Grant House.
The two-time Olympian and three-time Olympic relay medalist Armstrong has raced sparingly since the Paris Olympics, citing financial hardship behind the hiatus. That included skipping the World Championship Trials in 2025.
He did race at the U.S. Open in December, but only briefly: he finished 14th in the 50 free final (22.35) and 14th in the 50 back prelims (25.65) before scratching the B-Final.
In Austin this week, he was scheduled to race the 50 free (#8 seed), 100 back (#2 seed), 50 fly (#8 seed), 50 back (#2 seed), and 100 free (#6 seed).
Fellow U.S. National Team member Grant House has also pulled out of the meet. He had 5 entries in the meet including 5th in the 200 IM and 6th in the 100 fly.
House recently posted a video of a “speed practice” at Arizona State, so the reason behind his withdrawal is not obvious.
Other full-meet withdrawals include:
- 17-year-old Addison Bitel from Laker Swim in Florida, who was the #5 seed in the thin women’s 50 and 100 meter breaststroke fields, plus 6th in the 200 breast. Her teammate Brynn Lavigueur, the #6 seed in the 50 back and #7 seed in the 100 back, also scratched the meet.
- 16-year-old Natalie Bradac from the University of Denver Hilltoppers club team, the #9 seed in the 100 breast
Last-Minute Additions
In addition to the scratches, there were some last minute additions to the meet entries. That includes breaststrokers Luke Barr and Mitch Mason, who are both training with Coley Stickels‘ pro group at Texas Ford Aquatics.
They are the #7 and #8 seeds in the 100 breaststroke, with the versatile Barr also holding high seeds in the 50 fly (#9), 100 fly (#7), and 50 back (#6).
Wednesday Scratches
The most significant scratch from the final psych sheet to Wednesday’s heat sheet is French international Pauline Mahieu. Part of a large contingent of French swimmers at the meet, Mahieu was the #2 seed in the 100 back.
That is her only entry of the meet, so in essence she has scratched the meet.
While one recent Instagram post from last week said that she planned to leave for Los Angeles for a camp with the French team on January 5, her Instagram story on Tuesday shows her dragging a sled with groceries across the snow with the caption “change of scenery.”
The women’s 1500 free also saw scratches from the #2, #3, and #4 entries behind the event’s most dominant swimmer ever Katie Ledecky.
The #2 seed Claire Weinstein, the #3 seed Ashley Twichell, and the #4 seed Caroline Pennington are all absent from the heat sheets in a field that has been reduced to only its 8 swimmer ‘fastest heat.’
Weinstein, a freshman at Cal, is still entered in the 50 free as the #11 seed, while Twichell and Pennington won’t race on Wednesday at all.
The other big scratch from Wednesday’s heat sheets is Kato Trinquesse, another Denver Hilltopper drop from the women’s 100 breaststroke field. She was promoted to the #7 seed after her teammate withdrew from the meet.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas’ highway system dropped two spots since 2025, and now ranks at No. 27 in the country for its cost-effectiveness and overall conditions, according to the Reason Foundation’s 2026 Highway Report.
The report assessed pavement conditions, fatalities, deficient bridges, infrastructure costs and congestion levels across the United States. Texas earned the following rankings:
- 33rd in urban interstate pavement conditions
- 21st in rural interstate pavement conditions
- 39th in urban arterial pavement conditions
- 12th in rural arterial pavement conditions
- 3rd in structurally deficient bridges
- 26th in urban fatality rate
- 42nd in rural fatality rate
- 41st in traffic congestion
“More than 42,000 of the nation’s 618,923 highway bridges, nearly 7%, are still structurally deficient. Arizona, Nevada, and Texas reported the lowest percentages of deficient bridges,” the report said.
The full report can be found online.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Small hail peppered the Austin area as strong thunderstorms moved through Saturday.
A few of the storms dropped rain and up to pea-sized hail in San Marcos, Dripping Springs and the Austin metro area.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Williamson County around 8:15 p.m., and then canceled shortly after. However, it was enough for the Two Step Inn music festival in Georgetown to cancel shows for the rest of the evening. Event organizers say the festival will run as planned Sunday.
KXAN’s First Warning Weather team is monitoring the storms. We will update this post as the evening continues.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a new monument at the Texas State Cemetery on Saturday, dedicated to Texas Revolutionary War soldiers.
“We must educate every generation about why it is that America grew from a tenuous 13 colonies into the most powerful country in the history of the world,” said Governor Abbott. “This monument here is an enduring testament to the heroes who fought for the freedom that is unique to America.”
The monument was dedicated to 69 soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Texas, according to a press release.
Among those that were honored, Abbott recognized:
- José Santiago Seguín, grandfather of Texas Revolutionary hero Juan Seguín.
- Peter Sides, who fought in the 2nd Battalion of the North Carolina Regiment of the Colonial Army, and was later killed in the 1813 Battle of Medina, fighting for Mexican independence against Spain.
- Antonio Gil Y’Barbo, the founder of Nacogdoches.
- William Sparks, who fought as a mounted rifleman in the American Revolution and later settled in Texas. He had two sons and two grandsons who fought in the Texas Revolution.
“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which not only gave freedom to the British colonies of North America, but inspired movements for freedom and liberty all over the world,” said TSSAR President Mel Oller. “Texans played a role in the war too, and it’s important to recognize them, and the sacrifices they made for our freedom.”
At the monument unveiling, Abbott was also inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution and received its Silver Good Citizenship Medal.
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