Jordan Crooks Riding NCAA Momentum Into a Strong Short Course Worlds Debut

2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
• Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
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20-year-old Jordan Crooks has had quick success in the Land Down Under, as the Cayman Islands swimmer had a strong debut on the second day of competition at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.

In his first swim, Crooks rattled the 100 free meet record of 45.51, which Vlad Morozov set back in 2014. Crooks’ time of 45.61 was actually faster than Caeleb Dressel’s winning time of 45.62 from 2018, and it wasn’t far off of Alessandro Miressi’s winning time of 45.57 from last year’s competition.

That time also set a new Cayman Islands’ national record. But it didn’t last for long. In Wednesday’s semifinals, Crooks swam to a 45.55, setting another national record and once again posting time the top time in the field.

His 100 free broke the Cayman Record of 47.61 set in 2010 by Shaune Fraser. In fact, his swim was so good, that his 50 meter split time of 21.70 broke Brett Fraser‘s Cayman Record as well. For anyone too young to remember – the Fraser brothers were Jordan Crooks before Jordan Crooks. Shaune was a 27-time All-American at Florida, the most in school history, which included breaking the NCAA Record in the 200 fly in 2009. Brett was a two-time NCAA Champion at Florida and an Olympic semi-finalist.

Despite the impressive times thus far, he’ll most likely have to battle hard to earn gold Thursday evening. He’ll be swimming as part of a field that includes Maxime Grousset, who qualified 2nd in 45.58, Olympic gold medalist Kyle Chalmers, defending champion Alessandro Miressi, and long course world record hold David Popovici.

When Crooks committed to Tennessee in the summer of 2020, his times indicated that’d be a solid recruit, if not necessarily an immediate impact swimmer for the Volunteers. But he had a strong freshman fall last year, then exploded at the SEC Championships to the tune of a 18.53 in the 50 free and a 41.44 in the 100 free. He kept rolling at NCAAs, finishing tied for 3rd in the 50 free and 5th in the 100 free, in which he also set a new mark for the fastest freshman ever in prelims.

Crooks seems built for short course swimming, as his explosive underwaters would routinely earn him video highlights if ESPN ever did a swimming equivalent of “Web Gems.” But he’s no slouch in long course either. He represented the Cayman Islands at the 2022 World Championship in Budapest this summer. He didn’t advance out of prelims, but he wasn’t far off, clocking a 22.20 in the 50 free for 19th and a 48.79 in the 100 free for 22nd.

Fast toward to this fall, and Crooks picked up right where he left off in NCAA competition. At the Tennessee Invite last month, he had a sensational meet, including a 18.27 in the 50 yard freestyle that tied him as the #2 swimmer ever in the event. That converts to roughly a 20.44 in SCM, a time right in line with Ben Proud’s 20.45 gold medal effort in Abu Dhabi last year. He leads the NCAA this season in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyles.

Crooks is in Australia as part of a very small contingent from the Cayman Islands — it’s only himself and his sister, Jillian Crooks. She’s entered in the 100 free and the 50 fly, while he’s slated to swim just the 50 and the 100 free. Jillian is on a roll early in the meet as well – she already has National Records of her own this week in the 100 free (54.20) and 50 fly (26.40), and she’s only 16-years-old.