Crooks Becomes World Champion in 50 Free

MELBOURNE, Australia – Jordan Crooks' dominance in the sprint freestyle has taken the swimming community by storm over the last year. The Tennessee Vol took another huge step in building his legacy Saturday, when he earned the title of World Champion after bringing home gold in the 50 free at the 2022 FINA Short Course World Championships.

Already one of the top swimmers in the NCAA as just a sophomore, Crooks put together an impressive display of races at Worlds this week. Swimming the 50 free and 100 free—events he leads the nation in collegiately—the George Town, Cayman Islands, native advanced to the finals in both and set national records along the way.

After throwing down a blazing 20.31 time in the semifinals on Friday, Crooks came out on top in a loaded 50 free field in the finals after touching the wall in 20.46. The victory marked the first World Championship medal ever won by a Cayman Islands swimmer.

Entering the week as the No. 114 performer all time in the 50 free SCM, his 20.31 mark vaulted him all the way to fourth on that list. In addition, he moved up to 12th on the 100 free SCM all-time performers list after posting a 45.55 effort in the 100 free semifinals earlier in the competition.

Crooks became the first Vol since Mel Stewart (200 Fly/Goodwill Games) and Evan Stewart (1-meter Diving/World Championships) in 1994 to win an individual world title. He joins Tripp Schwenk as the only Vols to ever win short course titles. Schwenk was the 1993 World Champion in the 100 back and 200 back as well as the 400 medley relay for Team USA.

A world title was the perfect way to wrap up an incredible 2022 for Crooks. After bursting onto the national scene in February with his SEC title in the 50 free, he capped his first season on Rocky Top by earning First Team All-American honors after finishing tied for third in the 50 free and placing fifth in the 100 free at the NCAA Championships. He was named SwimSwam's Breakout Swimmer of the Year after recording the fastest times ever by an NCAA freshman in the 50 free (18.53) and 100 free (41.16).

So far this season, Crooks leads the country in three events, highlighted by an 18.27 mark in the 50 free, which is tied for the second-best time in the NCAA history and is 0.56 seconds faster than the next best effort (18.83) this season—which is the same gap between second and 23rd. He's a major reason for all five of Tennessee's relay lineups putting together top-10 times nationally after midseason invites: 400 free relay (1st/2:47.27), 200 free relay (2nd/1:15.32), 400 medley relay (4th/3:03.77), 800 free relay (7th/6:17.27) and 200 medley relay (8th/1:23.84).

To learn more about Jordan Crooks and his journey to stardom, check out the feature From Fisherman to SEC Champ: The Jordan Crooks Story, which talks about how his Cayman Islands roots helped develop him into one of the best swimmers of this generation.

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Jordan Crooks

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