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Junior Jack Alexy wins silver in the 100-meter freestyle, his second medal of the World Championships.
Rising Junior Finishes With Second-Fastest Time In US History
FUKUOKA, Japan– California men’s swimming & diving rising junior Jack Alexy captured his second medal of the 2023 World Aquatics Championships on Thursday morning, winning silver in the 100-meter freestyle with a personal-best time of 47.31.
Alexy, the native of Mendham, New Jersey, bounced back from a sluggish semifinal to become just the fourth American to swim a sub 47.5 in the event. Alexy’s time is the second fastest ever by an American, just behind Caeleb Dressel’s record time of 46.96 set at the 2019 World Championships. Alexy’s time is the 13th fastest ever in the event.
The silver medal is Alexy’s second of the World Championships; he also won Bronze in the 4×100 free relay on Sunday. Alexy, who is making his international debut, will compete in the 50-meter free next. The prelims for that event begin Friday at 7:12 p.m. PT.
Other Golden Bears to have a strong day at Worlds include alumnus Hugo Gonzalez, who finished seventh in the finals of the 200 individual medley. He finished with a time of 1:57.37, just a second off his Spanish record time of 1:56.31.
Cal was all over the prelims and the semifinals of the 200 backstroke. Former Bear Ryan Murphy, rising senior Destin Lasco and Gonzalez all advanced to the semifinals after finishing the prelims in fourth, eighth and 10th, respectively. It was Lasco’s first individual event of the World Championships. Fellow Bear Ziyad Saleem just missed qualifying for the semis with a time of 2:00.52 to finish 24th.
In the semifinals, Murphy and Gonzalez advanced finishing fourth and eighth respectively. Murphy finished with a time of 1:52.02, while Gonzalez clocked in with a time of 1:57.28 – impressive considering he swam in the 200 individual medley two events prior. Lasco took 16th with a time of 1:59.18.
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