How BYU Junior Jordan Tiffany Reincarnated As a Sprinter After Swimming Burnout

Jordan Tiffany had no interest in returning to the sport of swimming after his freshman year at the University of Tennessee in 2021.

Burned out from years of training heavy yardage for events such as the 200 butterfly and 400 IM, he moved back home to Utah and started working a landscaping job. In his free time, Tiffany got into weightlifting, calisthenics, plyometrics, and the world of sprint strategy through various social media accounts and podcasts. He borrowed explosive movements from track coaches and listened to advice from top NCAA swim coaches such as Dave Durden and Herbie Behm.

Eventually, Tiffany couldn’t escape the thought: I wonder if there’s any chance I can become a sprinter.

On paper, the transformation seemed far-fetched. Tiffany had never broken 21.5 in the 50 free, 48 seconds in the 100 back, or 47 seconds in the 100 fly. But by the summer of 2022, after a year in the weight room instead of the water, he was up to 210 pounds from his 180-pound frame in Knoxville. What’s more, Tiffany felt mentally refreshed, his purpose in the pool reignited by a new challenge.

So last November, he joined the one program he knew would take a risk on his crazy proposal: BYU. Cougars head coach Shari Skabelund has been an assistant in Provo since 1987, helping coach both of Tiffany’s parents, Stephen and Celeste, when they swam for BYU as well as two of his aunts. Tiffany’s sister, Haylee, is set to join the Cougar swimming family next fall.

“When I came back to swim, I made it kind of clear: I want to sprint, I want to try this out — if we fail, we fail,” said Tiffany, who grew up just about 20 minutes away from BYU in Pleasant Grove attending Cougar football games as a kid. “But I don’t want to swim the 400 IM again, and I just want to try this sprinting thing out. I feel like BYU would be one of the only places that would trust me — like nothing to lose, let’s do it.

“I knew (Skabelund) would give me the opportunity to trust me with my sprinting,” he added. “If I went to a random program and told them, ‘Look, my best time in the 50 free is 21.5 and my best time in the 100 back is 48 but trust me, I can become a sprinter.’ I don’t know how well that would go over. At BYU, they’ve been so open to listen to my ideas and let me do my thing. It’s been more of a partnership. At some of these top programs, it’s a lot harder to do that.”

It didn’t take long for that partnership to start paying off. Just a few months into his new training, Tiffany posted a personal-best 20.75 at a BYU intrasquad in January — his first meet in more than a year. At Austin Sectionals in March, he threw down huge lifetime bests in the 50 free (19.41), 100 free (42.39), 100 back (45.22), and 100 fly (45.63).

“I love the sport of swimming so much, but where I’m at, I just can’t grind out the yards anymore,” said Tiffany, who draws inspiration from Australia’s Cam McEvoy. “That’s just not enjoyable to me. But it’s so enjoyable to figure out other ways how I can get faster.”

Tiffany has kept finding ways to get faster during his junior season at BYU this fall, and he says he’s “just scratching the surface.” At the Mizzou Invitational last month, he won the 100 free (42.60), 100 back (45.24), and 100 fly (44.85), setting school records in the latter two events. His 44.85 100 fly ranks 6th in the NCAA this season and his 45.24 100 back ranks 10th this season. Tiffany had never been under 47 seconds in the 100 fly or 48 seconds in the 100 back before his comeback with the Cougars. He also said he’d be trying out the 200 IM again soon after a long break from the event and would know his third NCAA event by the time the Big 12 Championships roll around in February.

Tiffany has big goals for BYU in the school’s first season as a member of the Power Five, having jumped to the Big 12 in July among a wave of conference realignment. He believes the Cougars have what it takes to qualify their first relay for the NCAA Championships in more than 15 years, and he thinks that can help them beat their previous-best finish of 20th. BYU was within a second of the NCAA ‘A’ cut (1:23.71) last month in the 200 medley (1:24.49) and within two seconds of the ‘A’ cut (3:04.96) in the 400 medley relay (3:06.70), where Tiffany swims butterfly on both quartets.

Tiffany’s resurgence isn’t just great news for the Cougars as they enter a new era in the Power Five, but it also serves as a reminder to all swimmers that it’s possible to take time away from the sport and reinvent yourself.

“I’m the biggest advocate for sprinters to get in the gym now,” Tiffany said. “I took off two years, lifted heavy weights, and then came back and went all best times. The biggest part for me is I have so much authority and freedom, I’m super confident in my abilities and my swim knowledge. I’m leading the way and my coaches are guiding me and supporting me — it’s a unique dynamic that I don’t think I’d get anywhere else. I’m more in control than I would be other places. There’s no way I’d be able to do this without them.

“And I’m happy,” he reflected. “I was not happy swimming at Tennessee because I was struggling mentally. This is the first time I’m swimming freely. I’m doing it for me, and having fun. Every day is a new challenge for me. The pressure from other people is kind of off.”

Related:

• Man on a Mission: Fletcher Madsen Makes BYU Roster After Time Away From Pool