World Championships: Members of Team USA’s New Jersey Crew All Came Home With Hardware

Editorial content for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships is sponsored by FINIS, a longtime partner of Swimming World and leading innovator of suits, goggles and equipment.

World Championships: Members of Team USA’s New Jersey Crew All Came Home With Hardware

The United States roster for the World Championships featured a heavy New Jersey flavor, and all six members of the squad who hail from the Garden State returned home with a medal. No better illustration of that came in the concluding 400 medley relay, which was three-quarters New Jersey, thanks to Nic Fink, Dare Rose and Jack Alexy.

Whether in individual action or as a reward for their relay contributions, the Jersey Six have been rewarded for their efforts. Here’s a look at where the medals came from.

Jack Alexy (Mendham/Delbarton School): Alexy has etched his name as a go-to guy in the sprint-freestyle events for the United States. The Cal-Berkeley standout earned silver medals in the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, the longer distance an effort that came out of Lane Eight. In the semifinals, Alexy was not deterred by a disastrous start and battled his way back to reach the final. With medals on the line, Alexy delivered a personal best of 47.31 for runnerup honors to Aussie Kyle Chalmers. Alexy also helped the U.S. to silver in the 400 freestyle relay and mixed freestyle relay, then finished off the medley relay with gold.

Matt Fallon (Warren/Pingry School): Relying on his elite closing ability, Fallon turned in a time of 2:07.74 in the final of the 200 breaststroke. That mark was good for the bronze medal, with the event highlighted by a world record of 2:05.48 from China’s Qin Haiyang.

Nic Fink (Morristown/Pingry School): A Team USA captain, the veteran shared the silver medal in the 100 breaststroke with Italian Nicolo Martinenghi and the Netherlands’ Arno Kamminga. Fink also collected a silver medal in the 50 breaststroke and a bronze medal as a member of the United States’ mixed medley relay. He added medley relay gold.

“It was a good meet, and a lot of those guys are rookies,” Fink said of his fellow Garden Staters. “So to come in and walk away with hardware, I think it’s a great start to their international careers, for sure. I’m certainly going home happy.”

Destin Lasco (Linwood/Mainland Regional H.S.): The Cal-Berkeley star and NCAA champion contributed a split of 47.94 for the United States in the 400 freestyle relay. When the United States placed third in the final, Lasco claimed a bronze medal. Lasco also advanced to the semifinals of the 200 backstroke.

Henry McFadden (Haddonfield/Haddon Memorial H.S.): Headed for Stanford University, McFadden was on the prelims squad of the American 800 freestyle relay, contributing a split of 1:46.39. The night team finished in second, which landed McFadden a silver medal.

Dare Rose (Jersey City): Another star from Cal-Berkeley, Rose picked up a bronze medal in the 100 butterfly in a career-best of 50.36. Rose also handled the butterfly leg during prelims of the mixed medley relay. When Team USA placed third in finals, the effort gave Rose a bronze medal. He handled fly-leg duty on the 400 medley relay en route to gold.

“It’s super special,” Rose said after winning bronze in the 100 fly. “I remember growing up with these boys, we were probably like 10, 11 years old when we first met. Just going from there to this, it’s a pretty crazy experience. Super grateful to be here with them. I kind of knew it when we were younger we were going to be good, but never thought all of us would be here. It’s quite an amazing experience.”

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