INDIANAPOLIS — Until the final 50 meters, it appeared Carmel swimmer Alex Shackell might be on her way to the World Championships at age 16. With the Paris Olympics a year away, her time may come.
For Notre Dame’s Chris Guiliano, the time was now.
“I don’t want this to ever go away any time soon,” he said.
On opening night of the national championships Tuesday at the IU Natatorium, Guiliano shockingly finished second in the 100-meter freestyle to seize a berth on the world team.
Guiliano, coming off a sophomore season in which he was 10th in the NCAA in the 100-yard freestyle, was 22nd in premeet rankings. He was seventh in morning prelims. He had never been under 49 seconds. In the final, he was in the 47s.
Cal’s Jack Alexy was first in 47.93. Guiliano clocked 47.98, earning his spot by .01 over Matt King. Destin Lasco was fourth in 48.00 and Ryan Held fifth in 48.08.
Top two qualify for July’s World Championships at Fukuoka, Japan.
Top six in the 100 free customarily are chosen for the 4x100 freestyle relay.
Carmel’s Drew Kibler was eighth in 48.42. He is top seed in Wednesday’s 200 freestyle.
These nationals represent a bridge to the next Olympic Trials, which will be held in June 2024 in a temporary pool inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
“That’s the end goal,” said Shackell, who was fifth in the 200 butterfly. “Even if I didn’t make the team tonight, I still have other events. But the Olympics is the goal. I’ve got the 150. Just need to finish it.”
American record-holder Regan Smith won the 200 fly in 2:05.79, a meet record. Lindsey Looney, her teammate at Sun Devil Swimming, was fifth at 150 meters and finished second in 2:07.35.
Kelly Pash, also of Carmel, climbed from seventh to fourth in the last 50 meters and finished in 2:08.13. Shackell, second through 150 meters, had a time of 2:08.18. Her 2:07.95 prelim was an Indiana 15-16 record and ranks fifth in U.S. history in that age group.
Shackell has at least secured a berth on Team USA for the World Junior Championships, set for Sept. 4-9 in Israel.
Shackell was .04 from the championship final in the 100 freestyle, clocking 54.22, another Indiana 15-16 record. She was seventh in the B final in 54.57, but that race was less than 20 minutes after the 200 butterfly.
Shackell is in the 200 freestyle Wednesday, 100 butterfly Thursday and 50 free Saturday.
“I think my 100 free, the back end, is really coming together,” she said. “Usually, I die really hard. I’m starting to pass people at the end of that. When I’m rested, nothing before, I really think I can do something good in that event.”
The 6-foot-4 Guiliano, of Douglassville, Pa., has thrived under new Fighting Irish coach Chris Lindauer, who arrived in South Bend after 13 years at Louisville.
“This was my goal. This has been a dream come true,” Guiliano said.
Biggest casualty of morning prelims was Caeleb Dressell, winner of five gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He failed to advance in the 100 freestyle after finishing 29th in 49.42, compared with his American record of 46.96. He was third in the “C” final in 49.64.
Dressel, 26, withdrew from the 2022 World Championships for unspecified health reasons. He resumed training in January and competition in May.
In other finals
Women’s 800 freestyle: Katie Ledecky challenged her own world record and finished in 8:07.07. It was a meet record, No. 3 time in history, best time since 2016 and gave her the top 30 times in history. “I didn’t expect a world record or anything,” said Ledecky, 26, who became the sixth U.S. swimmer to make six world teams. “I felt I could be at least where I was last summer at worlds.” Her world record of 8:04.79 dates to the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Men’s 200 butterfly: Carson Foster held off hard-charging Thomas Heilman, 1:54.32 to 1:54.54. Heilman, 16, broke the national age-group record of 1:54.58, then a world record, set by Michael Phelps in the 2001 World Championships at Fukuoka. “It’s just amazing even to be mentioned in the same sentence with him,” said Heilman, of Crozet, Va. Carmel’s Aaron Shackell, won the “B” final in 1:55.92 – fast enough for sixth in the “A” final.
Women’s 100 freestyle: Kate Douglass continued extraordinary times and range, taking an upset victory in 52.57, or .03 off Simone Manuel’s meet record. Douglass completed her Virginia collegiate career in the NCAA Championships with American records in the 200-yard individual medley, 100 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. “Coming into this meet, I was just hoping for a relay spot, not an individual spot,” she said. “I think it’s pretty cool to kind of come in as an underdog in this race.”
Men’s 1,500 freestyle: Bobby Finke, winner at the 2021 Olympics and silver medalist at the 2022 worlds, won by eight seconds and set a meet record of 14:42.81. Columbus' Michael Brinegar, a Tokyo Olympian from Indiana University, was ninth in 15:18.14.
Contact David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.