INDIANAPOLIS – His father is an Olympic swimmer. His sister could be an Olympic swimmer. His coach has coached Olympic swimmers.

So it was inevitable Aaron Shackell would become an Olympic swimmer, right?

Absolutely not.

In fact, before his family relocated from St. Louis to Carmel in January 2021, he could have quit the sport. He liked football, basketball, tennis . . . anything, really, other than getting in the pool and staring down at a black line, lap after lap. The 19-year-old asserted he didn’t especially care for swimming until he was 16.

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“Being in a bunch of different sports as a kid was really important for me,” he said. “Just not being burnt out on swimming. Swimming is a tough sport.”

It is if you don’t have talent or confidence or motivation or coaching. Now Shackell has the grand slam. He said his sister, Alex, believed in him before he believed in himself.

After winning the 400-meter freestyle Saturday on night 1 of the U.S. Olympic Trials – and after slapping the water, raising arms in triumph and spiking his goggles – Alex was there to hug him at the bottom of the stairs from the pool deck.

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“When she saw me, she just told me I was an Olympian,” Aaron said. “It was one of the best moments of my life.”

He became the first to make the U.S. team for the Paris Olympics, winning in a time of 3:45.46. Kieran Smith, bronze medalist in the 400 freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, took the second spot in 3:45.76.

Announced attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium was 20,689. That is the largest ever for an indoor swimming competition, according to USA Swimming.

“Raising my hands and everyone cheering, that’s a moment every kid dreams about,” Shackell said. “I was soaking it all in, to be honest.”

He led after each of the eight 50-meter laps, following the instruction of coach Chris Plumb to force the pace. The swimmer trusted the coach enough to leave University of California, long one of the NCAA’s elite programs, and return to his club coach for Paris prep. Shackell said his “improvement rate was unbelievable” at Carmel.

In August 2022, he won a gold medal in the 200-meter butterfly at the Pan Pacific meet. The following February, at the 2023 state meet, he set a national high school record in the 200-yard freestyle. Then, last August, he won a bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle at the under-23 European Championships.

Shackell knew he was fit, especially after three weeks of altitude training at Colorado Springs, Colo. Still, there were doubts. There always are at these trials.

“He was little unsure of himself before the race,” Plumb said. “We had a good cheat. Just breathed confidence into him. He did that, and he thanked me, and that’s why I do what I do.”

Paradoxically, perhaps, the immense stage enhanced confidence. Or at least some swagger befitting a clutch basketball player or cool-headed quarterback.

“I think a lot of people get nervous when they look at 20,000 people and a big stadium, because swimmers maybe aren’t used to it,” Shackell said. “But I think, for me, it makes me swim faster.

“For me, I always dreamed of performing in front of a basketball arena or a football stadium, at least as a kid. In swimming, you don’t always have the opportunity to put on a show in front of 20,000 fans. It’s everything to me.”

Shackell’s father, Nick, made the British team for two Olympics, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. His mother, Ali, was an All-America swimmer at Auburn, where his parents met.

“It’s indescribable, honestly, to see your son make the Olympic team,” Nick Shackell said. “And to do it in the manner he did. Ali and I are so proud of him.”

The race was a veritable Hamilton County championship.

Luke Whitlock, a Noblesville 18-year-old representing Fishers Area Swimming Tigers, was fifth in 3:46.55. Whitlock had the fastest time of prelims, 3:46.42, or faster than Michael Phelps at age 18. Carmel’s Jake Mitchell, who made the 2021 team and finished eighth at Tokyo, was eighth in 3:50.76.

Alex Shackell, 17, coming off her junior year of high school, qualified for Sunday’s final of the 100 butterfly with the fourth-fastest time, 56.78. She was not far off the world junior record of 56.43 set by Claire Curzan in 2021.

Alex Shackell scratched from the fly final to concentrate on heats and semifinals of the 200 freestyle.

Her brother’s swim came soon after hers.

“That was more stressful than my own swimming, watching that,” she said.

Both Shackells are in Sunday’s 200 freestyle heats, as are Mitchell and Carmel’s Drew Kibler, both world gold medalists in the 4x200 freestyle relay.

It was a big day for Carmel beyond the Shackell siblings.

Kelly Pash made the final of the women’s 100 butterfly. Kayla Han, 16, coming off her sophomore year of high school, was fourth in the 400 freestyle in 4:08.21. She was a world junior gold medalist in the 800 freestyle last year.

Gregg Enoch, a state champion and recent Carmel High graduate, lowered his time in the 400 freestyle to 3:51.86 and was 18^th.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Swim Trials: Aaron Shackell wins 400 freestyle, spot at Paris Olympics