Aaron Shackell to Team Up With Siblings at Indiana After Stops at Cal and Texas
After using his first two seasons of NCAA eligibility at Cal and then Texas, U.S. Olympian Aaron Shackell now plans to represent the Indiana Hoosiers. Shackell did not make a formal announcement of the move, but he now lists @indianaswimdive in his Instagram profile. Shackell will join his younger siblings, twins Alex and Andrew Shackell, in swimming in Bloomington.
Aaron Shackell was a surprise qualifier for last year’s Olympic team as he won the 400 freestyle at Olympic Trials before placing eighth in the event in Paris. Those results came in between his first two collegiate stops, a semester each at Cal and Texas. Shackell departed Cal in late 2023 with plans to train for Trials back home in Carmel, Ind., and then return to Berkeley in the fall, but he ended up transferring to Texas. That tenure also came to a sooner-than-expected conclusion, with Shackell going home in the winter. His next destination will be much closer to home.
It’s unclear when Shackell will be eligible to compete for Indiana, but he will provide an immediate boost in the freestyle events and possibly the 200 butterfly, the yards version of the event in which he took gold at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships. Shackell is a former National-High-School-record holder in the 200-yard free.
After his numerous moves between training stops, Shackell struggled at U.S. Nationals and did not qualify for any A-finals. He did swim a best time in the 200 free, but his 1:46.50 was not enough to reach an extremely quick top-eight, and he ended up placing 11th at night. Shackell also finished 10th in the 200 fly prelims and 12th in the 400 free heats before withdrawing from consolation-final swims.
