Alex Shackell Decommits from Cal, Will Defer College Enrollment for a Year (original) (raw)
U.S. Olympian Alex Shackell has decommitted from Cal and deferred her college enrollment for a year, deciding to remain home at the Carmel Swim Club and continue training under Chris Plumb.
Shackell was originally committed to arrive at Cal in fall 2025, but speculation began after she first removed Cal from her social media bios a few months ago, and then in the last couple of weeks removed her commitment photo.
Shackell explained the decision to SwimSwam in a statement:
After much thought and discussion with my family and coaches, I have made the decision to defer my college enrollment for one year. This choice will allow me to continue my training at Carmel, where I have grown so much as an athlete and person. I believe that dedicating this next year to training at Carmel is the best decision for my continued growth and development in the sport.
I want to emphasize that this decision is not a reflection on the college program I verbally committed to. My choice to defer is solely about my personal goals as an athlete at this stage in my career. When the time is right, I remain fully committed to pursuing my academic goals.
I’m grateful for the support of my family and coaches during this decision-making process.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Shackell is the undisputed #1 recruit in the high school class of 2025, leading the group in five events coming out of her junior season in high school.
At the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, she finished 6th individually in the 200 fly and anchored the prelims 800 free relay that would go on to win silver in finals. She served in a similar role on the prelims medley relay, swimming the fly leg, but that relay won gold in finals.
She was part of what was scheduled to be a monstrous class of 2025 for Cal as head coach Dave Durden and associate head coach Dave Marsh really began to take control of the school’s women’s program with this recruiting cycle. That class also included the #2 commit Teagan O’Dell, the #3 commit Claire Weinstein, the #8 commit Annie Jia, the #9 commit Elle Scott, the #19 commit Ella Cosgrove, and a handful of other highly-rated recruits in what might have been the best women’s recruiting class in history.
#3 Weinstein, also an Olympian, reaffirmed her commitment to Cal on Instagram this week by posting “No occasion but go Bears” with a photo of her in a Cal jacket.
The Carmel Swim Club, one of the most successful clubs in the United States, has had a big gravity for its swimmers. Alex’s brother Aaron Shackell left Cal after a semester last season to return to Carmel to train, ultimately becoming one of the biggest surprises to join the Olympic Team. He is now beginning his second season of college swimming at Texas.
Drew Kibler also wound up returning to Carmel to train as a pro for a period of time after four years at Texas, as did Wyatt Davis after time at Michigan.
Alex’s twin brother Andrew Shackell is also now committed to Texas, having flipped his verbal commitment from Cal to Texas for the class of 2025.
In This Story
Aaron Shackell
Alex Shackell
Claire Weinstein
About Braden Keith
Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …