University of Tennessee’s dual meet at UNC Wilmington turned into an unscored exhibition on Friday, but that didn’t stop junior sprint star Jordan Crooks from producing eye-popping times in some unconventional events.
The highlight came in the men’s 50 free showdown with fins, where Crooks clocked a 16.99 to beat sophomore Gui Caribe (17.41). Crooks has been as fast as 17.93 in the 50 free without fins, when he became the second swimmer ever below 18 seconds in the event at the SEC Championships in February.
Little fun 16.99 in fins for Jordan Crooks of @Vol_SwimDive 🍊👊💪#BOOM #GBO #SwimmingIsFun pic.twitter.com/aVqZNxJgsT
— UTCoachGreg (@UTCoachGreg) October 6, 2023
UNCW sophomore Paddy Morris also impressed in the no-rules men’s 200 free relay with fins and unlimited underwaters, posting a 16.80 split on the third leg.
There aren’t official finswimming world records kept in short-course yards (SCY), but Arizona State’s Cody Bybee went 15.80 entirely underwater last season.
Crooks also won the 50 butterfly (21.08) by more than a second and the 150 fly (1:16.64) by nearly two seconds. He added a 20.69 fly split on Tennessee’s 200 medley relay.
“It’s such a long season, 26 weeks — we’re not really peaking until February,” said UNCW head coach Bobby Guntoro, who got in the pool himself and split 23.30 as part of a mixed 150 free coaches’ relay. “I think the mental health of student athletes is very important for us. Last weekend, we had a great turnout, a great competition against South Carolina. Going into this weekend, I talked with Tennessee head coach Matt Kredich about creating something different, creating something fun like 4×50 free fins relay and 50 free fins — no rules, just do whatever you want to do. Swimming fast, but at the same time, having fun.
Make Swim & Dive Meet FUN Again! Coaches relay for the win! pic.twitter.com/cnbT21uJbA
— Bobby Guntoro (@bobbygunt) October 6, 2023
“We had a packed house for the second week in a row, and there were a lot of kids up there. This is like the summer league,” Guntoro said. “Summer league is where all the fun begins. We want to bring that summer league fun into the big kids’ league. I love what we created here today, kudos to Tennessee for going all in with our plan. It was just a lot of fun all around.”
Other highlight’s from Friday’s exhibition included Tennessee senior Mona McSharry dominating the 150 breast (1:37.73) by more than five seconds, Vols junior Josephine Fuller winning the women’s 100 IM (55.04), and Tennessee freshman Camille Spink touching first in the women’s 50 fly (24.70). The Seahawks swept the sprint breaststroke events when UNCW sophomore Gil Shaw (29.76) edged Vols freshman Tori Brostowitz (29.83) in the women’s 50 breast and UNCW senior Dylan Citta took the victory in the men’s 50 breast (25.54).
I saw this on Meet Mobile and thought Crooks actually went a 16.99 for a second.
I dug for 20 minutes to confirm this was not a sanctioned race.
Even the finswimming community ignores SCY 😂
How good is he in LCM?
Solid enough. Nowhere even near his short course times though
Even SCM would be respectable
He’s #5 all time in scm, stop hating lol
Going to need all coach’s splits posted. All teams should do this once a year. Brilliant
Schooling 16.9
In practice from a push
I would think making a turn with fins could be a little awkward, no?
The timing is slightly different, but it isn’t a big deal.
Indeed you don’t get as good as a push off the wall and that’s a big part why the time isn’t more eye popping than it already is.
Go Bobby, Paddy, Gil & Dylan!!!
Paddy morris is a god 😍