Leah Shackley Swims 58.53 100 Backstroke, Now 8th Fastest American Woman All-Time ...Middle East

By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam

2025 Martha McKee Charlotte Open

The American women’s backstroke scene is extremely deep, but Leah Shackley is continuing to move up the ranks of the loaded field in the leadup to the 2025 U.S. Nationals. After completing her freshman season at NC State this spring, Shackley fired off lifetime bests in the 100 and 200 backstroke at this month’s Martha McKee Charlotte Open.

Her 100 backstroke was the highlight, Shackley broke 59 seconds for the first time with a speedy 58.53 that makes her the eighth-fastest American woman in event history.

Top 10 All-Time U.S. Performers, Women’s 100 Backstroke (LCM)

Shackley’s former lifetime best was the 59.05 she swam leading off the United States’ winning 400 medley relay at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, making this a .52 second drop for her. She’s been rapidly progressing in this event, she entered the 2024 long-course season with a 59.55 lifetime best, which she lowered to 59.25 at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials before she approached the 59-second barrier at Junior Pan Pacs in August.

This swim also makes her the fourth Wolfpack woman in the 100 backstroke all-time rankings as her training partners Katharine Berkoff, Rhyan White, and Kennedy Noble sit second, seventh, and ninth on the list.

Shackley also improved her standing as the 18th fastest all-time among American women in the 200 backstroke. She swam 2:08.14 at the Martha McKee Open, shaving five-hundredths off her previous lifetime best, also from the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

Finally, Shackley swam 57.92 in the 100 butterfly, which marks her first lifetime best in the event and breaking 58 seconds in the event in nearly two years. She brought a lifetime best 57.98 from the 2023 YMCA Nationals into this meet; she blew past that in Charlotte, taking six-hundredths off her best.

More Wolfpack Results

The Wolfpack backstroke contingent was out in force at this meet. Noble, who sits 9th in the 100 backstroke and 11th in the 200 backstroke in the all-time American women’s rankings, raced at the meet as well. It was her first official competition since the 2025 NCAA Championships, giving her a chance to get some long-course racing in.

Noble finished second to Shackley in the 100/200 backstroke, swimming 59.63/2:09.11 as she gets a sense of where she’s at before U.S. Nationals. She also swam 1:00.67 in the 100 butterfly and 2:17.20 in the 200 IM.

Then, Daniel Diehl and Oleksandr Zheltyakov held things down for Wolfpack backstroke on the men’s side. Diehl won both the 100/200 backstroke (54.25/1:58.67) and won the 200 freestyle. In the latter, he swam his fastest time at the meet in prelims, clocking 1:49.28 before swimming 1:50.05 in the final.

Diehl’s lifetime best in the 200 backstroke is 1:56.04 from June 2023. He finished sixth in the event at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials and at least two of the men who finished ahead of him (Ryan Murphy and Jay Litherland) will not be in the field this year in Indianapolis.

Zheltyakov, an Olympian and 200 backstroke European champion, joined the Wolfpack during the second semester of the 2024-25 season. Like Diehl, this was his first meet since the 2025 NCAA Championships. He finished second in the 100 backstroke (54.85) and 200 freestyle (1:52.12), then added a ninth place finish in the 200 backstroke (1:58.68).

Arsenio Bustos Returns From Injury

Arsenio Bustos and Aiden Hayes were both injured this seasonv, which heavily impacted the NC State men’s college season. But, both are now back in the competition pool. Hayes returned to action at the TAC Titans Spring Fling, and Bustos raced two events at the Martha McKee Open.

This was Bustos’ first competition since the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, where he finished sixth in the 200 IM, as he missed the entire NCAA season recovering from injury. He won the 100 butterfly at this meet, swimming a 53.04 that’s within a second of his lifetime best (52.07). Bustos only raced one other event in Charlotte, clocking 1:04.89 in the 100 breaststroke prelims before scratching the final.

David Sammons Record-Breaking Weekend

SwimMAC’s David Sammons had an excellent meet, setting North Carolina Swimming state records in the 400 IM and 200 butterfly. Sammons, 15, swam a lifetime best 4:22.37 in prelims of the men’s 400 IM to get under the former North Carolina Swimming state record.

Sammons has been rapidly improving in the 400 IM this season. He came into the year with a lifetime best 4:28.05, which he had already improved on twice before this meet. His lifetime best coming into the meet was a 4:25.92 from the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim. Sammons was slightly off his record-setting swim in finals with a 4:23.17 but was still under his old lifetime best. So far this year, he’s dropped 5.68 seconds in the 400 IM.

Sammons other record came in the 200 butterfly, where he logged a 1:58.86 for silver behind Canadian Benjamin Loewen. In addition to being a record, the swim took almost a second off Sammons’ previous best, which was a 1:59.72 from last summer’s Speedo Summer Championships.

More Notable Results

Toronto Swim Club’s Seoyeong Kim won the women’s 200 IM with a 2:13.71. Kim represents South Korea internationally and was the 2023 Asian Games bronze medalist in the event. She finished 17th in this event at the Paris Games (2:12.42), just missing a spot in the semifinals. Kim also took second in the 100 butterfly with a 59.27 that’s within a second of her lifetime best.

University of Toronto’s butterfly ace Benjamin Loewen was in action as well, representing Crest Swimming. Loewen fired off two season-bests at the meet, clocking 1:57.96 to win the 200 butterfly and a 54.82 for third in the 100 butterfly.

Florida commit Jordan Willis won the 100/200 breaststroke at the meet. He clocked 1:03.47 in the 100 breaststroke and 2:16.46 in the 200 breaststroke, the latter of which is a season-best time. Willis holds lifetime bests of 1:01.23/2:11.26 in the breaststrokes and took 9th in the 200 breast at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

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