Alex Shackell first crossed a pool at age three . . . and she hasn’t looked back.
By eight, she had her eyes set on Olympic gold. It wasn’t just a child’s dream after watching the Olympics. Shackell committed herself to training and competing year-round.
“I wasn’t always an outstanding swimmer,” Shackell says. “I had to work my way up to it.”
Although some around her thought her dream was too ambitious, Shackell knew it was possible.
And now, at 17, she has a gold and silver medal to prove it.
“Swimming is really important to our whole family,” Shackell says. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t either swimming, watching swimming or thinking about swimming.”
The same is true for Shackell’s older brother Aaron and her twin brother Andrew.
Their father, Nick Shackell, swam for Great Britain in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. In fact, both of their parents swam competitively for Auburn University.
With the goal of swimming success front and center, the Shackell family moved from Missouri to Carmel in January 2021 because of the stellar reputation of Carmel Swim Club and the Carmel High School swim team.
The move paid off this past summer when the three siblings were among 14 Carmel swimmers selected to compete in the U.S. Olympic team trials for swimming at Lucas Oil Stadium in June. Alex and Aaron ultimately qualified for the team.
For Chris Plumb, who serves as CEO and head coach of Carmel Swim Club as well as head coach at Carmel High School, the Shackells marked the third and fourth swimmers he has coached who have qualified for the U.S. team in the past two Olympic games.
However, Plumb takes no credit for identifying Olympic-level athletes.
“They identify themselves,” he says. “It really comes down to their drive and work ethic.”
Plumb is no stranger to the payoff of motivation and hard work as he was asked to join the 2024 U.S. Olympic swim team, himself, as an assistant coach in Paris.
“To be selected was an incredible honor,” Plumb says. “It’s something you work for. Just to represent my country is incredibly meaningful to me.”
In Paris, Alex finished sixth in the 200-meter butterfly.
“Obviously, everyone wants to win, and it’s a really great feeling when you do,” Shackell says. “But you have to be humble about losing. You can’t get upset and let it define you.”
Instead, the defining moment of the 2024 Paris Olympics for Shackell came with her selection to swim in the preliminaries for both the U.S. 4x100 medley relay and the 4x200 freestyle relay. Her contributions in those preliminaries earned her a gold and silver medal, respectively.
“To see it play out was literally a dream come true,” she exudes.
Shackell was on a plane flying home from Paris on the day she should have been starting her senior year of high school at CHS. She admits that some students do treat her differently and she has to consider who has always been there for her and who just wants to be friends with an Olympian.
“I try to stay true to who I am and not change,” she says.
Plumb acknowledges that it’s been challenging for her as a high schooler.
“She’s done a nice job of assimilating back into everyday life and getting back to work,” Plumb says.
For Shackell, that means 10 practices a week, spread over six days, or what essentially amounts to 24 hours of training every week.
“I have to remind myself to be patient and keep working toward the things I want,” she says.
Shackell’s long-term goal is to make the U.S. swim team again for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“To compete at a home Olympics is my dream,” she smiles brightly.
In the meantime, Shackell intends to do her part to ensure that the Carmel girls swim team maintains its almost 40-year winning streak as state champs. Plumb has coached the team for nearly half of those championships, and that makes him the winningest swim coach in Indiana history.
“We’ve been able to build something special and unique because of all the people pulling their weight,” Plumb says. “The administration, the community, the parents, the athletes, all the coaches have bought into the idea of what’s possible here. So, to me, it is a reward and an honor for Carmel.”
Carmel Swim Club and Carmel Swim Academy have seen an explosion of interest in swimming following Carmel rebranding itself as “Swim City, USA” this summer and hosting Olympic watch parties throughout the area.
“Interest and enthusiasm in swimming with CSC has surged,” says Maggie Mestrich, director of business development for CSC. “Our competitive team is ten percent larger today than we were during this same time last year.”
Plumb says that swimming is, first and foremost, a life skill. People should learn to swim because of the fact that it could save their lives.
“At the same time, it’s a life sport,” he says. “It’s something you can do your entire life. Swimming is a great way to balance your life and to stay physically fit.”
For young people, Plumb says swimming teaches them about hard work, discipline, time management and goal setting.
“At some point, if you keep working hard, the outcome you want will come to you,” Shackell encourages younger swimmers. “Even if you’re not the best in your group or even if you’re starting late, there’s time to get better. If you really want to do it, you can achieve it.”
“To see it play out was literally a dream come true."
“At some point, if you keep working hard, the outcome you want will come to you. . . . If you really want to do it, you can achieve it.”