See all of our 2024 Swammy Awards here.
After putting two swimmers on the U.S. Olympic team and three more on the Junior Pan Pac roster, Carmel Swim Club’s Chris Plumb earns his second straight Swammy Award for U.S. Club Coach of the Year.
Plumb’s year started off by leading the Carmel High School girls’ team to their 38th consecutive IHSAA title, with star swimmers Alex Shackell, Molly Sweeney and Lynsey Bowen leading the way as all three swept their individual events.
From there, Carmel’s focus shifted solely to the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, where then 17-year-old Shackell and her older brother Aaron Shackell both qualified for their first Olympic team racing in front of the home Indiana crowd in Indianapolis.
Aaron Shackell, 19 at the time, created a big wave of momentum for Carmel on the opening night of racing, winning the men’s 400 freestyle in a time of 3:45.46, knocking a second and a half off his previous best time.
Alex Shackell also had a hot start to the Trials, breaking 57 seconds for the first time in the semis of the women’s 100 fly in 56.78, qualifying her 4th for the final and moving her into #3 all-time in the girls’ 17-18 age group. However, with the three women ahead of her breaking 56 seconds, Shackell scratched the final in order to focus on the 200 freestyle, where she had a chance to qualify for the Olympic team in the 4×200 free relay.
That move ended up paying off, as she placed 6th in the 200 free final (1:57.05) to book a ticket to Paris.
Later in the meet, Shackell broke the National Age Group Record for 17-18 girls in the semis of the women’s 200 fly, clocking 2:06.10 to lower Regan Smith‘s mark of 2:06.39 set in 2020. Shackell came into the meet with a PB of 2:07.13, and brought it down to 2:06.71 in the prelims.
In the final, Shackell was the runner-up to Smith in 2:06.69, earning an individual berth at the Olympic Games.
Also performing well for Carmel at the Trials was Kayla Han, who was 9th in the heats of the women’s 400 free but was scratched into the final and ultimately placed 4th in a lifetime best of 4:08.21, ranking her 15th all-time in the girls’ 15-16 age group.
The 16-year-old also narrowly missed a finals berth in the 400 IM, placing 9th.
On the male side, 18-year-old Gregg Enoch made a finals appearance in the men’s 400 IM, placing 7th, and added best times in the 400 free and 200 IM.
Upon conclusion of the Trials, Plumb was announced as an assistant coach for the U.S. at the Olympic Games.
In Paris, Alex Shackell picked up two medals, swimming preliminary legs of the women’s 4×100 medley relay that won gold and the women’s 4×200 free relay that won silver. Individually, she neared her personal best in the 200 fly semis (2:06.46) to qualify for the final in 5th, ultimately placing 6th in 2:07.73.
Aaron Shackell dropped .01 from his Trials-winning PB in the heats of the men’s 400 free, advancing to the final in 6th (3:45.45) before finishing 8th (3:47.00).
Carmel’s Christopher Pfaff was named to the U.S. coaching staff for the Junior Pan Pacs in August, with Han, Enoch and Andrew Shackell earning roster spots.
At Junior Pan Pacs, Enoch won gold in the boys’ 200 IM and 4×200 free relay, added a bronze medal in the 400 IM, and placed 4th in the 200 free, with his 200 IM best time of 2:00.58 ranking him 19th all-time in the 17-18 age group.
Han also picked up a gold medal in Canberra, topping the girls’ 800 free. After the Olympic Trials, Han opted to return to her home club, La Mirada Armada, hoping to hone in on the distance free and 400 IM training she had found success with in prior years, but while at Carmel, she clearly made strides in the shorter events, specifically the 400 free based on her Trials performance.
Alex Shackell‘s international success in 2024 didn’t stop with the Olympics, as she was named to the U.S. roster for the Short Course World Championships in Budapest, where she won four relay medals including a pair of golds on the U.S. women’s 4×100 free and 4×100 medley. Shackell swam in the final of the 4×100 free, contributing a 52.01 split as the Americans set a new world record.
Individually, Shackell was 4th in the women’s 200 fly (2:03.23) after clocking 2:02.79 in the prelims to rank #3 all-time among Americans.
Despite missing Shackell, Carmel Swim Club had a solid showing at Winter Juniors – East in December, placing 5th among girls’ teams with 270 points, led by Bowen (62 points) and Ellie Clarke (41 points). The team also had three top-eight finishing relays, highlighted by their 4th-place showing in the 4×200 free relay.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- Mike DeBoer, Lakeside Swim Team – DeBoer coached Charlotte Crush to a phenomenal year in 2024, with the 16-year-old coming off a standout performance at Winter Juniors – East in December. Crush set a new NAG record for 15-16 girls in the 100 back (49.46), came within four-tenths of the record in the 200 back (1:48.69), and also moved to #2 all-time in the age group with a PB in the 100 fly (50.13). During the long course season, Crush set lifetime bests in the 100 fly (58.46) and 100 back (59.86) to earn semi-final berths at the U.S. Olympic Trials, performances that qualified her for the Junior Pan Pac team. In Canberra, Crush won a pair of silver medals in the girls’ 100 back (1:00.19) and 100 fly (58.19), setting a personal best in the latter to rank 10th all-time for 15-16s. In addition to Crush, other standouts for Lakeside this year included Thomas Mercer, who scored the third-most points among boys at Winter Juniors, and Wilson York, who is emerging as one of the best up-and-coming breaststrokers in the country. Mercer and York teamed up with Sawyer Tapp and Alex Thiesing to win the boys’ 400 medley relay at Winter Juniors – East in December, and the team was the runner-up in the 200 medley relay. For the girls, Crush led the team to podium finishes in all five relays in Greensboro, including a win in the 200 medley relay. Hanna Schmidt, KC Braeger and Ava Grazziani contributed to the victorious relay.
- Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada – It was another banner year for Aitken and the Sandpipers, as two of his swimmers, Katie Grimes and Claire Weinstein, earned berths on the U.S. Olympic team and won medals. After qualifying for the team in open water in 2023, Grimes qualified in two pool events at the U.S. Olympic Trials, and went on to win Olympic silver in the women’s 400 IM. Weinstein rebounded from a disappointing opening swim at the Trials in the 400 free to qualify for her first Olympic team in the women’s 200 free, and then in Paris, led off the U.S. women’s silver medal-winning 4×200 free relay in a lifetime best of 1:54.88. The 17-year-old was also a finalist in the 200 free, finishing 8th. Another Sandpiper, Luke Ellis, impressed at the Trials by placing 5th in the men’s 1500 free (15:06.71) and placing 5th in the heats of the 800 free before scratching the final. The 17-year-old’s performance in the 1500 qualified him for Junior Pan Pacs, where he won gold in the 800 free (7:52.40), silver in the 1500 free (15:00.24) and silver in the 400 IM (4:16.84), all in personal best fashion. In December, Ellis and teammate Gabriel Manteufel shined at Winter Juniors – West for the Sandpipers, with Ellis winning the 400 IM and Manteufel topping the 500 and 1650 free. Weinstein and Grimes, meanwhile, represented the U.S. at Short Course Worlds, combining for five medals including both swimming on the U.S. women’s 4×200 free relay that won gold and broke the world record. Weinstein also set a new American and World Junior Record in the 200 free en route to bronze, while Grimes broke the American Record in the 400 IM on the way to silver.
- Jason Walter, Lakeside Aquatic Club –Walter served as the head coach of the U.S. team at Junior Pan Pacs in August, leading the squad to a dominant performance as the Americans won 21 gold and 44 total medals, more than double of any other country. Walter coached Maximus Williamson to a new National Age Group Record in the SCY boys’ 17-18 200 IM (1:40.81) in February, and then last month, Williamson anchored Lakeside’s 400 free relay in 40.96 as he teamed up with Maxwell Stanislaus, Luke Garrett and Aubrey Jaya to set a new 17-18 NAG record in the event (2:54.12). Although Williamson missed out on a spot in the Olympic Trials final in the 200 IM, finishing 9th, and subsequently sat out of Junior Pan Pacs, he came back with a strong performance at Winter Juniors – West in Austin, winning the boys’ 50 free 100 free, 200 free, 100 back and 200 fly while leading Lakeside to wins in four of the five relays. Other top scorers for the Lakeside boys at the meet were Stanislaus and Riccardo Osio, while the girls had a pair of 3rd-place finishes in the relays and impressively put two squads in the top seven of the 200 medley.
PAST WINNERS:
- 2023 Swammy: Chris Plumb, Carmel Swim Club
- 2022 Swammy: Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada
- 2021 Swammy: Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada
- 2020 Swammy: Bruce Marchionda, TAC Titans
- 2019 Swammy: Ron Aitken, Sandpipers of Nevada
- 2014 Swammy: Bruce Gemmell, Nation’s Capital Swim Club
- 2013 Club/High School Coach of the Year: John Flanagan, Nation’s Capital Swim Club
- 2012 Club/High School Coach of the Year: Sergio Lopez, Bolles School
Potential National Team Director ??
He should definitely get a call, but I suspect he’s got about the best setup in the country at Carmel – huge club in a wealthy area, single location, controls the HS and club program, I have to believe a hefty salary. Most of the ‘younger’ coaches I’ve talked to about this job (disclaimer: not Chris) have said that they’d be interested in doing it for a quad and returning to deck. If Chris had any desire to return to deck in the future, I don’t suspect he’d ever find a gig as good as he has at Carmel, so that would be a tough decision.
“Hefty salary” going to be over $300K? The National Team job will command $300K at the bare minimum. It’s the only way to pull a serious coach off the deck. I agree with everything you posted about location/facility/control – for sure! But Plumb is probably making $150-$200K at Carmel, as he absolutely should, but no club/school district has National Team scratch. Only colleges do (and not that many).
Congratulations to Chris! He continues to work so hard for Carmel and Team USA athletes year after year. Well deserved!