Jillian Crooks Clocks 22.42 50 Free at TAC Titans Polar Plunge Meet

TAC Titans Polar Plunge

• January 13-16, 2023
• Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results on MeetMobile: “2023 TAC TITANS Polar Plunge Meet”

The TAC Titans hosted their annual Polar Plunge meet this past weekend. The meet draws close to 800 athletes from North Carolina and surrounding states for the four-day event. Friday night was run as timed finals, while Saturday and Sunday were held in the prelim-final format. A time trial session was also offered Monday morning. 

Headlining the meet for the girls was 16-year-old Jillian Crooks, who won and posted personal best times in all of her individual events. This performance comes only two months after Crooks already clocked a slew of best times at the TAC Titans Big Southern Classic in November. Crooks, a 2020 Olympian, represents the Cayman Islands internationally, but resides in the United States and is currently training with TAC. 

Crooks opened her meet with a best time by nearly half a second in the 50 free, as she posted a 22.42 in finals to win by over a second. She dropped nearly two seconds in the 100 fly (53.24) and a few tenths in the 100 free (48.73), both of which were decisive victories. In her final event, the 200 back, she shaved off four seconds to touch the wall at 1:57.09. 

Crooks has already committed to the University of Tennessee for the fall of 2024, where she will join her older brother Jordan Crooks, who recently became a SC World Champion in the 50 free. Her times from this meet would make her the fastest performer Tennessee so far this season in the 100 free, the 2nd-fastest performer in the 50 free and 100 fly, and the 4th-fastest in the 200 back. 

For the 15 and up boys, TAC’s Jerry Fox grabbed three first place finishes. He won the 50 free with a best time in prelims of 19.92, while clocking a 20.11 in finals to win by nearly a second. He also took first in the 200 free (1:38.59) and 100 free (44.37), though they were not best times. He also finished 3rd in the 500 with a six second time drop to clock a 4:32.76. Fox is signed to join NC State this upcoming fall. 

12-year-old Leah Smith from TAC also picked up multiple wins. She dropped over a second in the 100 IM to win by a few tenths over Sierra Durrette for a 1:05.30. She also clocked a personal best in the 200 free by a second, touching first at 2:04.25. Though not best times, she also won the 50 fly and 50 free, recording times of 28.74 and 26.12, respectively. 

12-year-old Alistair Peng dominated the 11-12 boys age group, winning four of his five individual events before no-showing the rest of them. He dropped just under a second in the 200 IM to clock a 2:10.32, while also shaving off a few hundredths in the 50 free for a 24.31. His other victories included the 500 (5:30.03) and 200 free (2:03.90). Ayden Greer also won multiple events in the same age group, including the 50 back (29.36), 100 free (58.36), and 50 breast (32.14).