NC State swimmers shine at World University Games

North Carolina is showing up big at the World University Games in Germany.

The United States has been so dominant in the swimming competition that Daniel Diehl, who won gold in the men's 200-meter breast stroke, told WRAL News, "I don't know how many gold medals we won -- something like 19."

Diehl, a North Carolina State University junior, said, "We dominated, plain and simple."

How dominant?

Leah Shackley, a rising sophomore at NC State, has won six medals -- 5 of them gold -- at the games, and she set a World University Games record in the women’s 50-meter backstroke with a time of 27:66. 

She's hoping to show that skill again in Los Angeles when the Summer Olympics come to the U.S. in 2028. The following year, the World University Games will be competed in North Carolina, with venues in the Triangle and Triad. 

Both Diehl and Shackley expect to be there. 

Shackley knows her toughest competition comes just in making the U.S. Olympic team.

"It's going to be really hard, but I'm going to put my best foot forward and hopefully keep trusting," she said, adding, "Go Pack!" 

Elsewhere on the water, a pair of rowers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- junior Lindsey Troftgruben and freshman Sarah Knox Harper -- have yet to complete their competition.

The World University Games continue through July 27, and the United States has a decided advantage in the medal count over second-place China.