Article courtesy of Aaron Williams | MaxPreps Carmel swimming coach Chris Plumb remembers Alex Shackell showing up to practice as a freshman with ink circles drawn on her knuckles. They were Olympic rings, she explained to him. "She's always had the dream," Plumb said. But the longtime coach of perhaps the greatest dynasty in high school sports — 39 girls state championships and counting — has seen plenty of talent pass through the powerhouse program. "I knew she had the drive, but to see it come to fruition, so few capitalize on their potential," Plumb said. "Talent is everywhere, willingness is rare." Shackell put in the work and has been named the 2024-25 MaxPreps Female National Athlete of the Year. Shortly before her senior year at Carmel began, she won two Olympic medals while competing in three events at the 2024 Paris Games. She grabbed gold in the 100-meter medley relay (helping set a world record in the process), silver in the 200-yard freestyle relay and finished sixth in the 200-meter butterfly. Shackell followed her Olympic exploits with four state titles this year at Carmel, bringing her career total to 15. That included four straight first-place finishes in the 100-yard butterfly. "I'm honestly kind of shocked," Shackell said upon learning she joins a list of exceptional female athletes like fellow Olympian Missy Franklin and WNBA players Alissa Pili and Paige Bueckers. "It's a huge honor." Shackell said she began doodling on her knuckles as well as having the Olympic rings on her phone background as motivation for her childhood dream. "I started doing it my freshman year one day in class. I had the rings on my phone and knew I wouldn't change it until I made the team," Shackell said. "I was obsessed with the Olympics when I got to high school in 2021 after the Tokyo Games. "I knew what age I would be for each of the next Olympics and I kind of thought 17 was young, but when I made my first world team I started gaining confidence." Beyond her Olympic success, Shackell's high school resume is beyond impressive: four straight 100 fly titles, a 100 back title as a junior and 50 free title as a sophomore along with eight relay championships, including three this year. She was the catalyst of a Carmel team that tallied 448 points at this year's state meet, good for fourth-most in state history. "Just to be part of the Carmel legacy and dynasty is amazing," Shackell said. "I'm so proud to be a Greyhound. I remember being in eighth grade and I couldn't wait to compete for Carmel at state and be a part of the legacy. "Looking back on the past four years, it's everything I wanted and it's crazy to think it's over." Shackell comes from her own dynastic swimming family. Her father, Nick, was an 1996 Olympian for Great Britain and All-American at Auburn. Her mom, Ali (Hansen), also was an All-American at Auburn. Her brother Aaron swam for Carmel and also competed for the United States at the Paris Olympics. Alex's twin Andrew will swim at the University of Texas along with Aaron. "We've got the competitive gene, for sure," Alex joked, saying they don't hold family game nights any more. "But it's an advantage having a talented family. You have to have the mindset and will to be great and my parents taught me what it takes to be the best." Born in California, Shackell said she lived in Tennessee and Missouri before moving to the Indianapolis area in eighth grade. Plumb said Nick and Ali Shackell put their children in a position to be successful but also knew from their own experience that youth success wasn't necessarily their goal. "They weren't in a hurry to have their children be the best at 10, 12 or 14," Plumb said. "She's proven (the payoff) through her consistency. People only see the highlights and not the work in the dark behind the scenes. "In many ways, she was able to take what has been done here to another level. We've had a lot of elite swimmers, but the first Olympian is unprecedented. She set the standard and hopefully paves the way for future Olympians." In and out of the pool, Shackell says she's just a normal teenager who likes to hang out with friends. Her Olympic summer, she said, was also spent going to a Pitbull concert, hanging in the Indiana dunes and having a weekend streak of meeting friends for breakfast or lunch. "When I'm in the water, I'm focused on what I'm doing," she said. "Out of the pool, I'm laughing, energetic and pretty normal. If you saw me walking on the streets, you wouldn't think 'she's an Olympic swimmer.' " But it's also something she's proud to say she's accomplished. "It's hard not to think about it at least once a day," she said of competing for the USA. "But I try to keep it in the back of my mind. I have other goals and don't want to mooch off one moment. I took the time to enjoy it, but once the new year hit, I was refocused." And that focus was bringing home Carmel's 39th title and then preparing for college. She initially committed to California before opting out to take a gap year. But Shackell recently committed to swim at home for Indiana. "My college journey is kind of ridiculous and it hasn't even started," she laughed. "I am a family person. I always thought I'd want to go far away but I realized Indiana is perfect." In addition to swimming for the home-state Hoosiers, Shackell has her eyes on Los Angeles in 2028 and making it to a second Olympics. "Swimming in SoFi Stadium in a home Olympics keeps me motivated," she said. "It's three years away, but it's already going by quick." But in May, she was preparing for graduation, a grad party and then getting locked in for the national dhampionships in early June in Indianapolis. "I think we've really only seen the beginning of what she can do," Plumb said.