Carmel’s Alex Shackell qualifies for final at Olympics
PARIS (WISH) — In her first ever Olympics, Carmel’s Alex Shackell qualified for the final in the women’s 200-meter butterfly.
She finished second in her semifinal, just .37 seconds behind the Olympic record holder Yufei Zhang from China.
Shackell closed the gap at 150 meters, touching the wall just .05 seconds after Zhang, but Zhang pulled away in the home stretch.
Shackell was the fifth fastest swimmer in the semifinals overall. She’ll race alongside one of her idols and teammates Regan Smith in the final, who had the second fastest time in the semifinals.
Shackell’s brother Aaron Shackell also swam in his first Olympics and made the final in his event, the men’s 400-meter freestyle. He finished in eighth place.
The sibling duo aren’t the only swimmers from Carmel to make the Olympics. Drew Kibler swam in the men’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay and took home a silver medal, the first Carmel swimmer to ever medal in the Olympics. he now swims for New York Athletic Club.
Both Alex and Aaron Shackell swim for Carmel Swim Club.
Alex’s 200-meter butterfly final will be on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. EST.