Shackley tops all freshman at NCAA Swimming Championships
Shackley earned All-American status in three events. She finished fourth in the 200m backstroke with a personal best time of 1:48:52. She finished sixth in the 100m backstroke and ninth in the 100m butterfly.
Ladies in Lane One: An Olympic hopeful's unlikely teammates
Shackley is a Bedford native who attended last summer Olympic Qualifiers in Indianapolis. In her first season with NC State, she won four medals at the ACC Championships, including a silver in the 200m backstroke. Her 50.33 in the 100m butterfly set a new school record.
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CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Katie Ledecky wins 1,500-meter freestyle gold at the World Aquatics Championships, her 22nd world title
American swimming star Katie Ledecky won yet another 1,500-meter freestyle world title in Singapore, her sixth victory in the event. The dominant performance on Tuesday marked Ledecky's 22nd gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships and took her overall tally to 28 medals. After a fast start, the nine-time Olympic champion was projected to finish ahead of her own world record set in 2018 before closing in 15:26.44 – six seconds outside her best-ever time. Italy's Simona Quadarella was second in 15:31.79, while Australia's Lani Pallister, who followed Ledecky closely in the opening stages of the race, was third in 15:41.18. 'Lani took it out there,' Ledecky said in her post-race interview. 'I knew she'd be out fast and I just wanted to get out fast but comfortable enough that I could build from there. (I'm) happy with the time and happy with the swim.' Ledecky was in superb form heading into the World Championships in Singapore, breaking her own long-standing 800m freestyle record in May and posting her second-best time in the 1,500m at the end of April. The 28-year-old took bronze behind Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh in the 400m freestyle on Sunday but was the firm favorite for Tuesday's 1,500m final – an event which Ledecky has dominated her entire career. Pushed hard by Pallister in the first half of the race, Ledecky was at one point as much as three seconds ahead of world record pace, and 2.35 seconds ahead by the halfway mark. Despite a slower second half, she still remains unbeaten in the 1,500m freestyle at the World Championships, ever since she made her debut in 2013. Ledecky withdrew from the event in 2019 due to illness and missed last year's worlds to focus on the Olympics. 'I love this race,' added Ledecky. 'This race was the race I broke my first world record in 2013 so lots of great races and memories over the years at worlds and happy I can do it in Singapore.' The most decorated female swimmer in history, Ledecky now has 42 medals across the Olympics and World Championships, including 31 golds.
Indianapolis Star
2 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
At 13, Carmel softball phenom got full ride to Division I. Now, she's hitting bombs in the pros
INDIANAPOLIS -- The lights were beaming across the field for a night time game when Stormy Kotzelnick stepped up to the plate, the score tied 3-3 in the top of the final inning with two outs. Kotzelnick took two strikes. And then ... "That's scalded at deep center field," the Women's Professional Fastpitch announcer boomed. "Sayonara." It was a go-ahead two-run homerun for Kotzelnick, which gave her Orlando Monarchs team a 5-3 lead and a 5-4 win against the New York Rise last week. As Kotzelnick rounded the bases, her Monarchs teammates surrounding home plate waiting to celebrate their rookie power hitter, she still felt like she needed to pinch herself. How had this dream of hers to play professional softball, a dream that began when a tiny girl growing up in Carmel fell in love with a ball and bat, come true. "Playing at the highest level is only awarded to so many people," said Kotzelnick, 23, a left fielder and power hitter for the Monarchs. "Just getting to be one of them, getting to wear that jersey across my chest has been such an honor and a blessing. It's a humbling privilege because not a lot of people even get to say that they played anything at the professional level." In softball, less than 2% of college athletes make it to the pros, according to the NCAA. That's an estimated 200 women competing at the highest level. But Kotzelnick, she showed signs very early that she would be one of the few to rise to the top. It's been 10 years since Kotzelnick made national headlines as a 13-year-old softball phenom from Carmel who could deadlift 240 pounds, squat 185 and could have easily done more but trainers were worried about disturbing her growth plates. At the time, Kotzelnick was clocking an unheard of speed -- running 60 feet from home plate to first base in 2.64 seconds. That was less than a tenth of a second off of Caitlin Lowe, a former U.S. Olympic softball player, who ran that same stretch in 2.55 seconds and was dubbed the fastest softball player in the world. Kotzelnick started training Crossfit at 11 and spent countless hours perfecting her swing. Softball fields, batting cages and weight rooms were where she lived. And what she achieved at such a young age, her strength and skill, began getting noticed in the elite circles of softball. Colleges, major Division I schools, were eyeing Kotzelnick as a seventh grader. Arizona State. Oregon. Washington. Plenty of other schools were flying out for unofficial visits. "I really didn't understand how this would come to me very early," Kotzelnick told IndyStar in 2015 as an eighth grader at Creekside Middle School, "how I get this opportunity." That opportunity ended with Kotzelnick verbally committing to Washington at 13, becoming the first player nationally to make a commitment for the Class of 2020. Her college recruitment was a rare feat for many reasons. Not just because of her age, but because of her position. Most early recruits in softball are pitchers. Kotzelnick was a utility player. She played shortstop, second base and outfield, and for her elite softball team the Beverly Bandits out of Chicago, she handled third base. But often overshadowing her defense was Kotzelnick's hitting. Shortly before she committed to Washington as an eighth grader, Kotzelnick led her Bandits team in hitting at a tournament in California, going 11-for-16 — .688. "Whenever I'm out on the field, I feel like I am in total control and taking leadership," Kotzelnick told IndyStar as a 13-year-old. "I just get in this zone where I feel like no ball is going to get past me. No ball is going to get past me. No ball is going to get past me." Kotzelnick continued impressing as she took the field at Carmel High School, hitting over .400 every season and producing 52 extra-base hits over the first three years. As a 16-year-old, she was ranked the 7th best player in the nation for her 2020 class and was a part of USA Junior National Team tryouts. Kotzelnick was doing things most other high school players weren't. At a tournament in Colorado, she nailed the bottom of a 300-foot fence. And she had perfected another weapon, 'slapping,' a precise bunting technique of hitting the ball to a spot on the infield that's farthest from the place where the out needs to be made. She is considered "one of the most dangerous hitters in the 2020 class," wrote which put Kotzelnick 15th in its Top 100 rankings at the time. "Stormy has been called by one elite coach 'the most prolific hitter in her class.' She is a hitting machine." After graduating high school, Kotzelnick headed to Washington for college where she took a red shirt and then transferred after her first year to the University of Louisiana Lafayette. "Deciding at such a young age that I wanted to go (to Washington) was probably something that I should have waited on a little bit longer," Kotzelnick told IndyStar this week. "But I'm honestly so glad that I did go there and I had that experience just to learn and grow so much as a person and a player." At Louisiana Lafayette as a redshirt freshman, Kotzelnick was the leading run producer (51 RBI). She recorded 14 doubles, six triples, 10 home runs and 22 stolen bases. She led the team with 30 extra base hits while hitting .350-plus in 59 games. During that season, Kotzelnick again made headlines with a spectacular defensive play. "Kotzelnick is still out there tearing it up, doing the softball ... and turning out five-star web gems, like the one above from the Ragin' Cajuns' 10-3 win over Louisiana Monroe," IndyStar wrote at the time. "Heck of a job by the third baseman to read, react and snag that screaming line drive in the blink of an eye. The level of difficulty is raised by where Kotzelnick was positioned (playing in), and she gets bonus points for going full extension to get the out." In her sophomore season at Louisiana Lafayette, while she played 59 games and performed at a high level, Kotzelnick said she realized something that would take her college career in a different direction. "That was definitely the year that shaped me. I went through a ton of adversity and was just able to continue to grow even more," Kotzelnick said. "And I think that was the year that built the most skin on me and where I was able to kind of grow up and just figure out what I really wanted and where I wanted to be, where I would be able to perform my best." Kotzelnick transferred from Louisiana Lafayette to finish her college career at the University of Central Florida where she fell in love with, not only the program, but the state. And with that, her college softball career soared. "I definitely believe that every decision that I've made has been a part of my story," she said. "I ended up performing well, doing my thing and just being in Orlando and getting my name out there." And people in the softball world were taking notice of Kotzelnick, just like they were 10 years ago. This time, it was the pros calling. In the landscape of professional women's softball, getting drafted is mostly word of mouth, coaches who know coaches who know someone else. "So, I had some people reach out to me and they had watched some of my games at Orlando, at UCF, and they were like, 'Hey, we want you to come play on the team,'" Kotzelnick said. "And I was like, immediately, yes. I didn't even have to think about it. I know I want to do that. I know I want to keep playing for a very long time." In May, Kotzelnick signed with the Monarchs, an WPF expansion team that plays on very familiar grounds to her, the UCF Softball Complex where she spent the final days of her college career. Her first season in the pros has been "super cool, super fun," Kotzelnick said, ultra competitive and eye opening. "Definitely the competition is insane," she said. "I mean, in college, it's like you get to play against maybe one All-American every other weekend. Now, you're facing a 70-mile-an-hour All-American every day. So that's been a great challenge, but I love it because I know for a fact that I'm playing against the best of the best." As a pro softball player, Kotzelnick is humbled to be at the forefront of the growth of women's professional sports. She is all in on the motto that is trending: "Everyone watches women's sports." "It is still a growing thing which is awesome because it's come so much further along than what it used to be," she said. "You would be surprised in the sports realm, even the male athletes wanting to contribute and be a part of women's sports. People want to watch us because it is cool. It is cool to see how strong women are in their sports." Like many women in professional softball, Kotzelnick has a second job away from the field. She spends her off time giving lessons to young girls for extra income. As Kotzelnick says, "We're not getting paid what MLB or NBA players get paid." While Kotzelnick works with up and coming players, she often tells them of her journey, the ups and downs and how her dream as a 13-year-old of one day playing in the pros came true. "My advice is you find yourself through the tough days where you don't want to get up but you do anyway, you persevere and learn to love the struggle," she said. "That's the separator from the good ones and the greats."
Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Rescuers race to reach injured German Olympian stranded on a northern Pakistan mountain
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Rescuers comprising local mountaineers and porters resumed efforts on Wednesday to reach injured German Olympic gold medalist Laura Dahlmeier on a peak in northern Pakistan, officials said. Faizullah Faraq, a spokesman for the regional Gilgit-Baltistan government, said rescuers were racing against time to reach Dahlmeier despite bad weather on the Laila Peak, where she has been stranded since Monday following a mountaineering accident. Dahlmeier, who also won the 2017 women's biathlon World Cup , was climbing Laila Peak in the Karakoram mountain range when she was struck by falling rocks . Climbers including two Americans attempting the same ascent are trying to join the rescue operation. Military helicopters were on standby but have been unable to deploy due to low visibility and ongoing bad weather and rainfall, Faraq said. Dahlmeier, 31, will be brought to the city of Skardu when she is rescued, Faraq said. Local authorities launched the rescue mission Monday after receiving a distress signal from Dahlmeier's climbing partner, Marina Eva, who managed to descend to base camp with help from rescuers Tuesday. Dahlmeier was injured at an altitude of about 5,700 meters (18,700 feet) around noon Monday, according to her management team in Germany. German broadcaster ZDF reported she suffered serious injuries in a rockfall. 'There is still no clarity on her condition,' Alpine Club of Pakistan Vice President Karrar Haidri told The Associated Press. 'She sustained serious injuries, but she has oxygen with her, and injured climbers have been known to survive for days.' 'With heavy clouds choking the sky and rain falling on the high slopes of Laila Peak, rescuers are pushing through dangerous terrain to reach her,' Haidri said. Hundreds of climbers try to scale mountains in northern Pakistan every year and accidents are common because of avalanches and sudden weather changes. The region has also been battered by above-normal seasonal rains, triggering flash floods and landslides. Since last week, at least 20 Pakistani tourists have been missing after floodwaters swept them away near the northern district of Chilas. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
