Junior National Teamer Jack Alexy Swim First-Ever Sub-20 50 Freestyle

College Showcase 2021

• February 13 – February 15, 2021
• Somerset Hills YMCA
• Basking Ridge, New Jersey
• Results Available on Meet Mobile Under “College Showcase 2021”

Swimmers at the Greater Somerset County YMCA swim club spent the weekend racing at the 2021 College Showcase.

Current USA National Junior Teamer Jack Alexy claimed three wins at the meet, posting the fastest times in the 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, and 200 backstroke. In the 50, Alexy cracked the 20 second barrier for the first time ever with a 19.84 prelim swim. In the finals, he was even quicker with a 19.79 for the victory. Prior to this meet, he had a PB of 20.07 which he clocked at the 2019 YMCA Short Course National Championships.

In the 100 backstroke final, Alexy got under 48 for the first time, swimming a 47.56, improving upon his 2019 swim of 48.15 at the Speedo Winter Junior Nationals – East. In the 200, Alexy was a little bit shy of his 1:46.19 best time, hitting a 1:48.34 for the win.

Alexy will make the move to California next year as he has committed to swim for the University of California, Berkeley back in October of 2019. Alexy will likely be an asset to Cal right away next season. His 19.79 50 free and 100 backstroke would have both earned 2nd place at Cal’s most recent meet against USC. His current best time in the 100 freestyle of 42.87 meanwhile would have been a winning time for Cal ahead of USC’s Nikola Miljenic.

Another multi-winner at the College Showcase was Julia Meisner who picked up wins in the 100 back, 200 back, 200 IM, and 400 IM. In the 100 backstroke, she swam a 58.04 for the win to shave 0.13 off her previous best time of 58.17 from October 2020. Both her IM wins were also PBs, moving from a 2:04.36 to a 2:04.04 in the former and from a 4:23.76 to a 4:21.86 in the latter.

In the 200 backstroke, she hit a 2:03.26 in the prelims and a 2:04.25 to win the finals. That 2:03.26 was a little bit off her best time from 2019 of 2:02.57.

Florida Gulf Coast commit Danielle D’Ambrosia won the 50 freestyle as the only sub-24 swimmer in the field. Her 23.93 for the win was just 0.31 seconds away from her personal best of 23.62 from last February.

Matt Fallon, who will swim for the University of Pennsylvania beginning in the fall of 2021, won the 100 breast, 200 breast, 400 IM, and 500 free. Fallon’s 4 wins were each slightly off where he’s been in recent years.

Fallon hit a 54.42 and 1:54.12 in the 100 and 200 breasts, just a bit above his bests of 53.52 and 1:52.87. In the 400 IM Fallon won with a 357.71 compared to the 3:44.08 with which he won gold at the 2019 YMCA Short Course National Championships. In his fourth event, the 500 free, Fallon was a 4:27.15. His best in that event is a 4:21.89 from December 2019.

Other Notable Wins:

• 16-year-old Grace Zhou won both the 100 and 200 butterflies hitting times of 58.49 and 2:07.13, respectively.
• Rob Alexy claimed victory in the 100 and 200 freestyles with a 46.15 and a 1:39.06.
• Meghan Sharma was the fastest 100 and 200 breaststroker at the meet, swimming a 1:06.07 and a 2:23.08.
• Catherine Meisner picked up three wins in the 100 free (51.37), 200 free (1:48.76), and 500 free (4:52.89).

As for the remainder of the YMCA swim season, it was announced in December that there would be a National Swimming Festival in the fall of 2021. The Championships will include several regional meets across the USA with results to be compiled together for national rankings.