Leah Shackley Set to Elevate NC State Wolfpack After Breakout Summer
At this summer’s World University Games, Leah Shackley put forth a performance that elevated her career. Shackley followed up a series of strong results at U.S. Nationals, where she finished third twice as well as fourth, fifth and seventh, with five gold medals and one silver during her trip to Germany.
Most impressive were her backstroke results as Shackley won gold in the 50 and 200-meter races while finishing behind American (and Wolfpack) teammate Kennedy Noble in the 100. Shackley’s time of 2:05.99 in the 200 ranked her fourth in the world this year and was faster than the bronze-medal-winning time at the World Championships. The results qualified Shackley for the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships, where she will make her debut with the No. 1 American international squad.
Leah Shackley — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Before that comes her sophomore season in Raleigh, where Shackley is the ace performer on a team that consistently finishes among the top-three in the ACC and top-10 in the national standings. NC State graduated the swimmer who is arguably the best in program history, Katharine Berkoff, following the 2023-24 season, but still scored two more points at the national meet in 2025, largely due to the efforts of Shackley and fellow freshman Erika Pelaez.
Shackley made her NCAA debut by finishing ninth in the 100 butterfly, sixth in the 100 back and fourth in the 200 back while swimming on four scoring relays. The presence of Noble and Pelaez meant Shackley was ticketed for butterfly on the team’s medley relays, and she was one of four swimmers to go under 50 seconds on the 400 medley relay. Shackley was also entrusted with anchor duties on the 200 and 400 free relays.
Now, after swimming massive personal bests in long course over the summer, she is poised to drastically improve her NCAA standing. Numerous swimmers in front of her last season, including world champion Gretchen Walsh and two-time Olympic backstroker Phoebe Bacon, have exhausted their eligibility, and trends indicate Shackley should be able to stay close to the likes of Claire Curzan and Bella Sims in the backstroke races.
An individual NCAA title might be a big ask for this season, but Shackley now knows what it takes to come out on top in races of consequence. Before last March, she had never been to the meet with the intensity of an NCAA Championships, and until June, she had never seriously contended for spots on senior-level national teams. Then came the multi-sport experience of the World University Games, which she handled with aplomb. Shackley should be able to build on that experience rather than experiencing a sophomore slump.
Moreover, Shackley could lead NC State to improved results on the national level this year. The Wolfpack lost only two scoring swimmers from last year’s NCAA Championships (one was a relay swimmer on a 16th-place 800 free relay squad) while Pelaez, Lily Christianson and Lisa Nystrand all scored as freshmen. Noble and relay standout Aubree Brower and Olivia Nel should be strong as they try to finish up their college careers. NC State also adds difference-makers in breaststroker Eneli Jefimova, a native of Estonia who has won European titles and Short Course World Championships medals in her career, along with U.S. junior team sprinter Lily King.
But the centerpiece swimmer is Shackley, a sophomore in the process of becoming one of the best swimmers in the country.