The Cayman Islands have announced their 2024 Paris Olympic swim roster, with the sibling duo of Jordan Crooks and Jillian Crooks as the sole representatives.
Jordan Crooks will make his Olympic debut after qualifying in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events. At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, he comfortably surpassed the FINA A cut in these events, securing his spot on the Olympic team.
In recent years, Jordan has competed in the 2022 and 2023 Long Course World Championships, along with the 2022 Short Course World Championships, achieving the distinction of becoming his country’s first-ever World Champion in swimming in the 50 meter freestyle.
At last year’s 2023 World Championships, he placed sixth and seventh respectively in the 50 and 100 meter freestyle.
Jordan has also seen huge success in the short course pool, being one of only two men to ever break 18 seconds in the 50 yard freestyle. He ranks number two all-time, behind only Caeleb Dressel.
Jordan’s lifetime best time of 21.73 in the 50 meter freestyle puts him well within range to become the Cayman Islands’ first-ever finalist in swimming at the Olympics.
Since 2008, during the super suit era, qualifying for the final of the 50 freestyle has never required a time faster than 21.78. Jordan appears to be positioned perfectly within that competitive range.
The Cayman Islands have reached the Olympic final only once in their country’s history, in track, finishing 8th in the 200 meters in the 2008 Olympic Games.
Jillian Crooks, the younger sister of Jordan Crooks, has made her second Olympic team, having already made the team back in 2020(1) at the Tokyo Games. Like her brother, Jillian has qualified in the 100 freestyle and will aim to improve on her 51st place finish from 2021.
Jillian qualifies for the 2024 Olympic Games through the Universality program, which enables each National Olympic Committee to include one male and one female swimmer who haven’t met the qualifying standards but meet certain participation criteria set by FINA.
Last summer, at the 2023 World Championships, Jillian finished 32nd in the 50 freestyle and 23rd in the 100 freestyle. At just 17 years of age, she is already the fastest swimmer in Cayman’s history.
Her best time in the event, 55.18, comes from the Commonwealth Youth Games back in August of 2023. Jillian has also seen much success in the short course yards pool, having swum a blistering 47.30 in the 100-yard freestyle to win Winter Juniors East in 2023.
She represents the TAC Titans based in Cary, North Carolina.
Both Jillian and Jordan will compete this upcoming season for the Tennessee Volunteers. Jillian will arrive on Rocky Top as a freshman in the fall of 2024, while Jordan will be a senior.
The Cayman Islands first competed at the Olympic Games in 1976 and have been to every Olympics since then, with the exception of the 1980 Games. They have never won a medal in any sport.
I love so many things about this piece. It’s thought-provoking about my country’s sibling duo and kept me engaged throughout. Thanks for writing about them!
Feels like Jillian is on the verge of an intentional breakout. Whether or not anything happens in Paris is irrelevant. But once she starts training with Tennessee I wouldn’t be shocked to see her start making international finals like her brother.