Jordan Crooks is the 2022 World Champion (SCM) in the 50 free and the first Caymanian to win a medal of any color at the swimming world championships. He is and NCAA Champion and the 2nd swimmer ever to break the 18-second barrier in the 50y freestyle.
On July 11, 2020, Jordan Crooks announced his verbal commitment to the University of Tennessee. Crooks has represented his country internationally at a number of Caribbean-centric meets, including the 2019 CARIFTA Swimming Championships. At that meet, he won the 200 free title in the 15-17 age group. His Best times as of July 2020 are as follows:
Best Times in Long Course Meters & Short Course Meters; Converted Yards Times
| LCM | SCM | SCY (CONVERTED) | |
| 50 free | 23.48 | 22.68 | 20.43 |
| 100 free | 51.41 | 49.87 | 44.87 |
| 200 free | 1:56.33 | 1:52.88 | 1:41.69 |
| 100 fly | 57.76 | 55.35 | 49.86 |
| 100 back | 1:00.55 | 55.77 | 50.24 |
College (Tennessee)
2021-2022
Crooks had a standout freshman season, making serious waves at his first SEC Championships. After leading off the 200 free relay in 18.7 at the beginning of the first finals session, Crooks one-upped himself, winning the 50 free in 18.53, making him the fastest freshman all-time. He followed that up with a 41.44 leading off the 400 free relay, becoming the fastest freshman ever in the 100 as well. He placed 2nd in the individual event at 41.6 behind Brooks Curry.
At his first NCAA Championships, Crooks tied for 3rd in the 50 free (18.6) and 5th in the 100 free (41.24), having gone 41.16 in prelims to lower his time as the fastest freshman ever once again. Individually, Crooks also placed 26th in the 100 fly (45.54) while helping Tennessee to 17th in the 200 medley relay, 16th in the 200 free relay, 13th in the 400 medley relay, and 16th in the 400 free relay.
2022-2023
Crooks wasted no time in his sophomore campaign to assert himself to the rest of the NCAA. In an early October dual meet, he ripped a 19.36 50 free at a dual vs UNCW. In am early November dual against Florida, he split 42.1 in the 400 free relay. At the Tennessee Invite in mid-November, Crooks backed up his in-season swims with historic performances. On the first night, he clocked 18.27 in the 50 free, tying for the #2 performer all-time with Bjorn Seeliger. The next night he swam 44.79 in the 100 fly and 45.55 in the 100 back, both meet records. On the final night of competition, he won the 100 free in 41.29.
At the 2023 SEC Championships, Croooks became just the 2nd swimmer in history to break the 18-second barrier, clocking a 17.93 to win the 50 free title. He also won the 100 free (41.19) and placed 2nd in the 100 fly (44.37) after setting the meet record in prelims (44.04). Crooks Helped Tennessee to an SEC title in the 200 medley relay (splitting 18.9, the fastest split in history) and 400 free relay as well as second-place finishes in the 200 free and 400 medley relays.
At the NCAA Championships, Crooks won his first NCAA title, winning the 50 free (18.32) after a long hold by the starter. He also placed 5th in the 100 fly (44.29) and 100 free (41.03). He helped Tennessee to 4th in the 200 free relay, 6th in the 200 and 400 medley relays, and 7th in the 400 free relay.
Crooks’ junior year marked a shift away from the 100 fly and towards the 200 free, perhaps as he looked to capitalize on the success he found in the LCM pool over the summer. He started things off in a LCM dual against Louisville where he clocked a 22.54 50 free and a 48.85 anchor in the 400 free relay. In his first SCY meet against Texas A&M, he swam fairly pedestrian times of 19.95/43.59/1:37.38 in the 50/100/200 free. He was in much better form against Florida and Kentucky, clocking a 19.02 50 free, quite fast for being unsuited, and a 42.57 100 free.
At the Tennessee Invite, which featured LCM prelims and SCY finals, Crooks put up impressive times in both courses. He started things off with a 21.95 50 free in prelims before dropping an 18.46 leading off in the 200 free relay and lowering his season best to 18.40 in the individual final. He wrapped up night 1 with a 45.07 100 fly split in the 400 medley relay.
On day 2, Crooks featured in the 100 fly, clocking a 54.04 in prelims before going a 45.30 for the win in the finals. Just before that, Crooks clocked a 19.64 50 fly split in the 200 medley relay. The highlight of Crooks’ evening came at the end. Crooks crushed a new school record in the 200 free during his leadoff leg of Tennessee’s 800 free relay, ripping a personal-best 1:32.07.
He moved through the 100 free prelims with a 48.92, just .02 seconds back of Caribe’s field leading time. He came through in the finals, winning in 41.08. He lowered his season best to a 41.03 at the end of the session, leading off in the 400 free relay.
His next dual meet came in late January against UGA, clocking a speedy 19.00 50 free and 46.43 100 fly for the wins. Crooks also lead off in the 400 free relay in 42.03. Crooks suited up against LSU and clocked an 18.80 50 free and a season-best 45.18 100 fly. He also split 19.92 on the fly leg of Tennessee’s 200 medley relay and 41.87 leading off the Vols’ 400 free relay.
At SECs, Crooks opened the meet with a 19.43 50 fly split as Tennessee took 2nd with a 1:21.82. The next morning, Crooks led the 50 free field with a blazing 18.30, improving his NCAA-leading time. He lowered that mark to an 18.06 leading off in the 200 free relay that night. That time was the #4 time in history. Crooks continued his game of limbo, lowering his time further to a 17.99 in the 50 free final, dislodging his own #4 time in history with a new time, just the 4th sub-18 swim.
Crooks surprised many by swimming the 200 free over the 100 fly on day 3, but it looked like a great call, at least for this meet, as Crooks was great, taking 2nd overall with a 1:31.45 in prelims. Crooks was even better in the final clocking a 1:31.17 for 3rd. He returned on day 5 with a 41.06 100 free in prelims before lowering that further to a 40.90 in the final for 3rd. That time marked a new PB for Crooks. He turned around and split a 40.57 in the 400 free relay to help Tennesse place 2nd.
At NCAAs, Crooks seemed off his game on night 1, clocking a 19.70 50 fly split, .80 seconds off his best split. Part of that was his rough .32-second reaction time. As a team, Tennessee dropped one place in the seedings and added .09 from their seed and .42 from last year.
Crooks returned the next morning unphased and did more Crooks things, putting up a solid 18.49 50 free to qualify back 4th. In the final, Crooks was a mere .1 seconds off his season best with a 18.09 but that was enough for Josh Liendo to grab the title from Crooks, who led Liendo at the 25, by just .02 seconds. Crooks returned a little later to best Liendo leading off in the 200 free relay with an 18.14. Tennesse ended up 5th in that relay.
In the 200 free, Crooks had another big drop, Going 1:30.41 to make it back 3rd. Crooks was a bit off that time in the final, Clocking a 1:31.03 for 6th. Crooks entered the final day looking for a title, and he looked like he could do it, clocking a prelims-leading 40.54 100 free PB. In the final, Crooks was 2nd at the 50 but was on the bad side of a close finish for 2nd, ending up 4th in 40.61. Undeterred, Crooks clocked a 40.39 100 free leading off in the 400 free relay, making him the #4 performer all-time. Tennessee ended up 5th in the relay and 6th overall as a team.
International Career
2022 World Championships (Budapest)
At his first world championships, Crooks placed 19th in the 50 free (22.20) and 21st in the 100 free (48.79), breaking a national record in the 50.
2022 Short Course World Championships (Melbourne)
In Melbourne, Crooks made himself known to the world. In the prelims and semi-finals of the 100 free, he swam the top time in each (45.61 & 45.55, both national records). In the final, Crooks clocked 45.77, placing 7th overall.
Moving onto the 50, Crooks followed a similar pattern through the first 2 rounds, clocking new national records of 20.36 and 20.31 while holding the top seed. In the final, Crooks maintained that top seed, touching at 20.46 to place 1st ahead of the defending champion, Ben Proud, by a mere .03.
Not only was this the first medal of any color at a swimming world championship for the Cayman Islands, but with Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter placing 3rd, it also marked the first time 2 Caribbean countries were on 1 podium together.
2023 World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, Japan)
Jordan Crooks is now good at LC swimming. Crooks has translated his incredible SC success into the big pool. He clocked a time of 47.77 in the preliminary heats of the men’s 100 free, which is a massive 1.02-second drop from his previous best time of 48.79 from the 2022 World Championships. In addition, Crooks also broke Shaune Fraser‘s super-suited Cayman Islands record time of 48.47 from 2009. The best part of his swim was how evenly he improved from his best with a .44 drop on the front half and a .58 drop on the back 50. In semis, he was even better with a 47.71 for 6th into the final.
