Walsh and Shackell siblings produce milestone performances at U.S. Olympic trials

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Kate Douglass and Alex Walsh celebrate after the Women’s 200 individual medley finals Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Gretchen Walsh waves after a Women’s 50 freestyle semifinals heat Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Gretchen Walsh smiles after a Women’s 50 freestyle semifinals heat Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Alex Walsh swims during the Women’s 200 individual medley finals Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Gretchen Walsh and Olivia Smoliga after a Women’s 50 freestyle preliminary heat Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Gretchen Walsh swims during a Women’s 50 freestyle preliminary heat Saturday, June 22, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Regan Smith and Alex Shackell after the Women’s 200 butterfly finals Thursday, June 20, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Regan Smith and Alex Shackell celebrate after the Women’s 200 butterfly finals Thursday, June 20, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Aaron Shackell reacts after winninga Men’s 200 freestyle semifinals swim-off Sunday, June 16, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Aaron Shackell reacts after winning the Men’s 400 freestyle finals Saturday, June 15, 2024, at the US Swimming Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

By MICHAEL MAROT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Walsh sisters and the Shackell siblings cast aside any discussion of sibling rivalries at this week’s U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis.

Instead, they’re just about the respect and mutual admiration for one another. And next month, it will be on full display for the entire world to see in Paris.

Two days after Alex Shackell qualified for her first Olympics, joining her older brother, Aaron, to become the first siblings on an American swim team since 2004, Alex Walsh made it a pair by joining her younger sister, Gretchen, on the U.S. roster.

In fact, the Americans had a perfect pair in 2004, too, with sisters Dana and Tara Kirk and the brother-sister combination of Klete and Kalyn Keller, in 2004. And now it’s happened again.

“God I’m so happy, it’s such a relief for my family now that we’re going to Paris together,” Gretchen Walsh said. “It’s a dream come true. I’m just so excited.”

The younger Walsh locked up her spot one day after breaking the world record in the 100-meter butterfly in the semifinals last weekend and then backed up that performance by winning the event in 55.31 seconds, just 0.13 seconds off her record pace.

For Alex Walsh, the silver medalist in the 200 individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics, there was much more angst. She waited until Saturday’s second-to-last event when she finished behind only Kate Douglass and more than two seconds ahead of third-place finisher Isabel Ivey.

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“I’m really happy to have booked my ticket, and going with Gretchen was just a dream come true.” Alex Walsh said after being clocked in 2 minutes, 7.86 seconds. “When she did that the second night, I knew I just had to uphold my goal and, obviously, waiting several days was not ideal, but really I’m just happy.”

For the Shackells, who both competed at local prep powerhouse Carmel High School, just a short drive from the temporary pool at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, it was more of a home-grown party.

Like the Walshes, Aaron Shackell wasted no time taking care of his part of the deal.

He won the men’s 400-meter freestyle last weekend to become the first 2024 Olympic qualifier in swimming and then thanked his younger sister for helping to teach him the nuances of swimming.

Then, like the Walshes, Alex Shackell spent an anxious week praying she could make it a family affair in Paris next month. She finally came through Thursday night by finishing second in the women’s 200 butterfly.

“We worked so hard to practice the week and every single practice is hard,” Alex Shackell said. “We all know it’s going to be hard and that’s why we’re so good at these big meets.”

Now, just one big question remains for the siblings — what the living arrangements might look like in Paris.

“Gretchen and I did room at last year’s world championships, and we definitely, you know, we’re siblings, we had our moments,” Alex Walsh said. “But we know how to take our breaks and just like hit pause. I’ve been living with her now for really the past eight days and it’s been a very enjoyable experience.”

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)