Tennessee’s Jordan Crooks Is Now the #3 Freshman in History in the 50 Free

2022 SEC SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 19, 2022
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Tennessee freshman Jordan Crooks is the latest swimmer to move up the all-time 50 free rankings after an 18.72 on the leadoff leg of Tennessee’s 200 free relay on Wednesday.

All-Time Fastest NCAA Freshman: 50 Yard Freestyle

1. Caeleb Dressel, Florida, 2015 – 18.67
2. Bjorn Seeliger, Cal, 2021 – 18.71 (21 years old)
3. Jordan Crooks, Tennessee, 2022 – 18.72
4. Adam Chaney, Florida, 2021 – 18.76
5. David Curtiss, NC State, 2022 – 18.77
6. Jimmy Feigen, Texas, 2009 – 18.84

That makes him now the third-fastest freshman in the history of the event (and second-fastest teenage freshman: he’s 19 years old).

He was already tied for 5th-best freshman ever after an 18.84 prelims swim in the individual 50 free. He has now lept ahead of Florida’s Adam Chaney and NC State’s David Curtiss. Curtiss swam 18.77 in prelims on Wednesday at the ACC Championships.

Crooks’ swim also ties him as the 12th-fastest swimmer of any age in the event with former Auburn Tiger Adam Brown.

Crooks now ranks 1st in the NCAA this season among swimmers of any age, ahead of Curtiss at 18.77, meaning the top two sprinters in the NCAA so far this season are both freshmen. Texas’ Cameron Auchinachie is 3rd in 18.80, and LSU’s Brooks Curry is 4th in 18.93.

Crooks is a native of the Cayman Islands, home of two other legendary SEC sprinters, former Florida Gators Brett and Shaune Fraser. He was originally scheduled to join the team for the 2020-2021 season, but that wound up being postponed to this fall.

His younger sister Jillian Crooks, who lives and trains in Alaska, was one of two representatives of the Cayman Islands at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. There she finished 41st in the 100 free.

Crooks’ leadoff helped lift the Volunteers to a 2nd-place finish in that 200 free relay, .01 seconds ahead of the resurgent Auburn Tigers. He had the fastest leadoff leg in the field ahead of Chaney, who is also on the all-time freshman list.

As of the end of the 200 free relay, Tennessee is in first place, buoyed by big day 1 diving points.