Crooks, Liendo Climb The All-Time 50 Free Rankings, 19.0 Needed to A-Final at SECs

2023 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 14 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
• Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, TX
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Tennessee (1x)
  • Men: Florida (10x)
• Championship Central
• Women’s Fan Guide
• Men’s Fan Guide
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Video
• Day 2 Prelims Heat Sheet
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

There was an eruption of speed at the 2023 SEC Swimming Championships on Wednesday morning in College Station.

Tennessee sophomore Jordan Crooks swam 18.25 to qualify first and climb to 2nd-place in the all-time rankings, while Florida freshman Josh Liendo took away Crooks’ title as the fastest frosh in history with an 18.35.

What’s more, there are three Florida Gators in the top four seeds, and it took 19.0-or-better to qualify for the A-Final at a conference championship meet.

Jordan Crooks #2 in History

After a breakout year as a freshman last season, that blossomed into a World Championship this season, Tennessee sophomore Jordan Crooks is on a tear this week.

On Tuesday evening, he became the first swimmer to ever split sub-19 seconds in the 50 fly on a 200 medley relay split (18.90). On Wednesday morning, he swam 18.25 in prelims, which breaks a tie with Cal’s Bjron Seeliger as the #2 performer in the history of the event.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 50 SCY Freestyle

1. Caeleb Dressel, University of Florida – 17.63
2. Jordan Crooks, University of Tennessee – 18.25
3. Bjorn Seeliger, Cal – 18.27
4. Ryan Hoffer, Cal – 18.33
5. Josh Liendo,University of Florida – 18.35
6. Cesar Cielo, Auburn – 18.47
7. Matt Target, Auburn – 18.52
8. (TIE) Brooks Curry, LSU/Ryan Held, NC State – 18.56
9. –
10. (TIE) Matthew Brownstead, Virginia/Drew Kibler, Texas – 18.60

Crooks’ previous best was an 18.27 done mid-season on a 200 free relay leadoff leg at the Tennessee Invite in November. Before this season, his best was an 18.53 from last year’s SEC Championship meet.

To date, there hasn’t been anybody who looked poised to challenge Caeleb Dressel’s 17.63 record, but Crooks is getting closer-and-closer to opening up that conversation, especially if Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich’s early-season statement that the Volunteers are focused on NCAAs is true.

Dressel’s best time as a sophomore, for reference, was an 18.67 at the NCAA Championship meet.

Fastest Freshman Time

Speaking of Crooks’ time from last year, it was previously the fastest-ever time by an NCAA freshman (though he was a bit older than the average NCAA freshman – not by a lot).

Now, Josh Liendo of Florida has taken that torch.

All-Time Fastest NCAA Freshmen: 50-Yard Freestyle

1. Josh Liendo, Florida, 2023 – 18.35 (20 years old)
2. Jordan Crooks, Tennessee, 2022 – 18.53
3. Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 2015 – 18.67
4. Bjorn Seeliger, Cal, 2021 – 18.27 (21 years old)
5. David Curtiss, NC State, 2022 – 18.74
6. Adam Chaney, Florida, 2021 – 18.76
7. Jimmy Feigen, Texas, 2009 – 18.84

Liendo is 20-years old, which like Crooks makes him slightly older than a traditional freshman. In fact, he’s only 3 months younger than the sophomore Crooks. But for the Canadian, it is his first year in collegiate swimming, so the swim does technically qualify for this list.

He came to Florida already with big credentials – in 2022, he was the World Championship bronze medalist in the 100 free and 100 fly.

Florida Continues to Push the 50 Free Forward

The University of Florida, renowned for its distance group and mega-volume tradition, has an incredible depth of success in the 50 yard free. That was highlighted on Wednesday with a 2-3-4 prelims finish from Liendo (18.35), Macguire McDuff (18.99), and Adam Chaney (19.04).

McDuff jumping under the 19 second barrier gives the Gators seven men who have been under 19.00 all-time in the event. That’s second only to Auburn, who have eight from the late-oughts, including the first man to ever do it, Fred Bousquet.

Colleges with the most Sub-19 Second 50 Freestylers

• Auburn – 8 (Cielo, Targett, Brown, Bousquet, Apple, Andjkaer, Chierighini, Louw)
• Florida – 7 (Dressel, Chaney, Liendo, deBorde, Friese, Will Davis, McDuff)
• Texas – 6 (Kibler, Auchinachie, Schooling, Jackson, Feigen, Ringgold)
• NC State – 6 (Held, Korstanje, Curtiss, Bilis, Henderson, Ress)
• Cal – 5 (Seeliger, Hoffer, Sendy, Adrian, Stubbleifled)

Hat tip to tea rex for the research on these lists.

19.0 to Final….In a Conference Meet?

Even the famous Anders Holmvik line “I said 20-point and he didn’t even flinch” is starting to feel outdated. There is a growing list of swimmers who have been under 19 seconds in the 50 free, and it took 19.00 to qualify for the A-final of these SEC Championships.

Dillown Dowling was 8th in heats in 19.09, before it jumped to Alberto Mestre at 19.21 for 9th.

Seven men were sub-19 in the 50 free at mid-season meets, a new record. It took 18.94 to make the A-final in the 50 free at NCAAs last year.

This is part “the SEC sprinters are loaded this year,” and part “the 50 free is getting faster” – 19.09 would have finished 14th in prelims at NCAAs last year.

The times in the 50 free in the SEC have meandered lower over the last few years, but this year’s drop is a paradigm shift. The 19.43 that earned a spot in the A final last year would have tied for 14th this year.