INDIANAPOLIS – The night Regan Smith set her world record, a Carmel teenager was trying to chase her.
Alex Shackell won the 200 butterfly semifinal in 2 minutes, 6.10 seconds on Wednesday during Night 5 of the U.S. Olympic Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium. She will enter Thursday night's final as the second seed behind Smith.
The top two will advance to the Paris Olympics.
The 17-year-old Shackell broke the 17-18 year old national record of 2 minutes 6.39 seconds set by Smith in 2020. Shackell's time moved her into seventh place on the U.S. all-time list.
That speed would have been good enough for him to win a bronze medal at the 2023 world championships and a gold medal at the world championships in February.
More about Alex Shackell:Dad misses out on Olympic medal, but Carmel swimming brothers make it to podium in Paris
Smith is set to win a silver medal in the 200 butterfly at the 2021 Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships.
Smith was on pace to set an American record in the 100 meters, winning the first semifinal in 2:04.91 and setting a new U.S. championship record. Smith set the American record last year with a time of 2:03.87. Emma Sticklen was second in 2:07.44.
Kelly Pasch, of Carmel, was 11 years old.Number His overall time was 2:09.96 and he did not place in the top eight in the final.
Hours after Smith again set the world record in the 100 backstroke, she lost in the preliminaries of the 200 butterfly to Schakel. The teenager from Carmel finished in 2:06.71. Smith was second in 2:07.24.
Schakel's previous best was 2 minutes, 7.13 seconds in March. She placed sixth in the 200 freestyle on Monday night and provisionally qualified for the Olympic team in the 4×200 freestyle relay.
Carmel coach Chris Plumb said Shackell's focus at the trials was the 200-meter butterfly.
In Saturday's 100 butterfly, she shaved two personal bests off of her previous record, clocking 57.07 seconds in the heats and 56.78 seconds in the semifinals. She was ranked fourth before the final but withdrew to focus on the 200 freestyle. The decision to withdraw proved to be a wise one, as the top three in the 100 butterfly final all finished under 56 seconds.
Shackell's younger brother, Aaron, 19, earned a place on the team after winning the 400m freestyle on Saturday night. The couple's father, Nick, competed for Great Britain at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games.
Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at 1-800-464-4488.email addressFollow me on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
