The REPORTER
Carmel’s Alex Shackell did her part for the U.S. Women’s 4×200 freestyle relay in the prelims. Her reward was a silver medal after the finals.
Shackell, an incoming senior for the Greyhounds, helped the Americans reach the final of the relay during Thursday swimming action at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shackell anchored the U.S. prelims swim, finishing her leg in 1 minute, 59.47 seconds following swims from Anna Peplowski, Erin Gemmell and Simone Manuel. The Americans won the first semifinal in a time of 7:52.72 and qualified fourth for the finals.
The U.S. team in the final consisted of Claire Weinstein, Paige Madden, Katie Ledecky and Gemmell, who anchored the relay. The Americans finished in a time of 7:40.86 to take the silver medal; Australia won the gold in an Olympic record time of 7:38.08.
Everyone who swam on the relay, whether in the prelims or the final, got to step on to the medal stand and receive a medal. Shackell is the first Carmel female athlete to win an Olympic medal.
Before the relay, Shackell competed in the finals of the Women’s 200 butterfly Thursday afternoon. She finished in a time of 2:07.73. Shackell kept up with the top three during the first 100 meters, as she was in fourth position after the 50- and 100-meter splits. But the top three began to pull away during the final 100.
Canada’s Summer McIntosh won the race in 2:03.03, a new Olympic record time. American Regan Smith took the silver in 2:03.84 and China’s Zhang Yufei won the bronze in 2:05.09.