Shackell flies to medal race

Carmel’s Alex Shackell, shown here during the U.S. Olympic Trials, will swim in the finals of the Women’s 200 butterfly today at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shackell finished fifth overall in both the preliminaries and semifinals to qualify for the finals. (Julie Brown/File photo)

Carmel swimmer makes it to 200 butterfly finals

The REPORTER

Carmel’s Alex Shackell will get a chance to swim for a medal today.

The incoming Greyhounds senior made the finals of the Women’s 200 butterfly event at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Wednesday. Shackell will compete in the finals this afternoon today.

Shackell began Wednesday by finishing fifth in the preliminaries with a time of 2 minutes, 7.49 seconds, placing her firmly among the top 16 swimmers and sending her to the semifinals. In the evening semifinals, Shackell placed second in the second semifinal, clocking in at 2:06.46, only 0.37 seconds behind China’s Zhang Yufei, who had the third overall fastest time among the two semifinals.

The butterfly finals take place at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon.