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One summer a while back when my daughter was in college, she coached our local swimming team in Bernardsville, New Jersey.
She would come home from practices and meets and kept telling me about a seven-year-old boy on her team who was a crazy fast swimmer. I didn’t think much of it because our town and the surrounding area have produced a boatload of fast swimmers over the years including Nic Fink, who is one of the world’s fastest breaststrokers.
Besides, often great younger swimmers peak early and you don’t hear much about their careers later on.
But this kid was different.
In the ensuing years, my daughter continued to tell me about the progress this phenom was making at the high school level and the University of California at Berkeley.
Now he’s taking his talents to another level. This week Jack Alexy finished with Silver Medals in both the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyles at the World Swimming Championships in Japan.
In the 100 free he swam a 47.31, the second-fastest American time ever behind Caeleb Dressel, who won five gold medals in the 2020 Olympics.
What does this mean?
It means this kid is now in a position to vie for a Gold Medal in both events at the Summer Olympics next year in Paris, France.
A kid who swam for a neighborhood team in Bernardsville, population less than 8,000. A kid from New Jersey, one of America’s great swimming states though many people don’t know that. A kid just a short while ago dazzling in the 8 and under group is now America’s fastest freestyler.
The chances of pulling this off, no matter how talented you are, are low.
It’s inspiring and startling to realize I know where this kid started his swimming odyssey to superstardom.
All the hours in the pool he’s spent are paying off. He’s risen to the top echelon of the sport and the chances of that are almost impossible.
More than a decade ago, my daughter saw something rare in this kid. Now we have to look forward to next year with Jack Alexy on our minds and in our hearts as he strives to match the great achievements of Gold Medal-winning American sprinters such as Dressel and Nathan Adrian to become the fastest swimmers in the world.
Time for all Americans to splash down into the Jack Alexy pool of possibilities.
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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
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