Jordan Crooks Blasts 1:30.00 200 Freestyle at Day 1 of Tennessee Invite

by Madeline Folsom 13

November 19th, 2024 College, SEC

2024 Tennessee Invite

Jordan Crooks started the first midseason meet with a bang in the 200 freestyle. Crooks led off the Tennessee men’s 800 freestyle relay with a blistering 1:30.00. He is currently the number 8 performer all time, but you could write a book with all of the places this time is #1. Fastest he has ever been. Fastest Vol in history (beating his own record of 1:30.41 from NCAAs). Fastest swimmer this year. Fastest midseason 200 freestyler ever. 

Let’s start with the personal best time. At this meet last year, he went a 1:32.07 leading off the same relay. At the time, this was a two second drop from his previous best time, also leading off the 800 free relay at the Tennessee invite of 1:34.30. He dropped more time at SECs where he swam the event individually and went 1:31.45 and 1:31.17 in prelims and finals respectively. Finally in prelims at NCAAs he went his best time until this evening at 1:30.41. This means in about 3 months, Crooks dropped a second and a half after previously being known as pretty-exclusively a drop dead sprinter.

Here are his splits from NCAAs and from tonight:

2024 NCAAs 2024 Tennessee Invite
20.64 20.48
43.56 (22.92) 43.22 (22.74)
1:06.82 (23.26) 1:06.42 (23.20)
1:30.41 (23.59) 1:30.00 (23.58)

What about the fact that this is at a midseason meet? Is Crooks the fastest midseason 200 freestyler ever? Yes. Here are the top 6 midseason times in history:

  1. 1:30.00- Jordan Crooks: 2024 Tennessee Invite
  2. 1:30.57- Drew Kibler: 2020 Texas Hall of Fame Invite
  3. 1:30.83- Drew Kibler: 2019 Minnesota Invite
  4. 1:30.86 Andrew Seliskar: 2018 UGA Fall Invite
  5. 1:31.10- Drew Kibler: 2020 Texas First Chance Qualifier (October)
  6. 1:31.30- Charlie Hawke: 2023 Tennessee Invite

Crooks’ time this evening is more than 5 tenths faster than the next fastest time at mid-season. Drew Kibler is on the list 3 times though, which makes the list look especially fast. Here are the top 6 performers in history:

  1. 1:30.00- Jordan Crooks: 2024 Tennessee Invite
  2. 1:30.57- Drew Kibler: 2020 Texas Hall of Fame Invite
  3. 1:30.86- Andrew Seliskar: 2018 UGA Fall Invite
  4. 1:31.30- Charlie Hawke: 2023 Tennessee Invite
  5. 1:31.65- Joao de Luca: 2013 Winter Nationals 
  6. 1:31.73- Grant House: 2021 NC State Invite 

Only two other people have ever been 1:30 at this point in the season, which just makes Crooks’ time that much more impressive. It does leave the world of swimming with a lot of questions. Is he next to go under 1:30? How will Luke Hobson respond at the Texas Invite later this week? Can we expect another half second drop in March? One thing is certain, however. It is only November, and only the first day of the meet. There is a lot more swimming in store, and if tonight is any indication, it is going to be exciting. 

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the duder
2 months ago

Is the math not mathing for anyone else when looking at the 2024 Tennessee invite splits? Either the second 50 split is off or the cumulative 100 split time is…

Admin
Reply to  the duder
2 months ago

Sorry about that, fixed.

captain bubbles
Reply to  Braden Keith
2 months ago

Nerd question: do you have a template to copy/paste times into, or when you publish do you usually have to type them all out?

Admin
Reply to  captain bubbles
2 months ago

We type them out. We’ve experimented with templates and stuff, but because the format of results swings so wildly, it becomes more trouble than it’s worth. We only programmatically pull things if we’re doing something off big data as a one-off.

Crooked lane lines
2 months ago

Talk about consistency. Check out his final 100 split compared to ncaa last year. Hell of a swim!

Khase Calisz
2 months ago

Is he going to Budapest?

VFL
2 months ago

Him.

Big swim for Gui and Blackman too.

Last edited 2 months ago by VFL
Swimfan27
2 months ago

I forgot just how versatile Andrew Seliskar was. Besides Marchand, I think he’s the most versatile male NCAA swimmer.

Dirtswimmer
Reply to  Swimfan27
2 months ago

Definitely. What Marchand has become was what a lot of people thought seli would become coming out of high school. Though he impressively didn’t deviate too far from that

JimSwim22
Reply to  Dirtswimmer
2 months ago

Spitz?

Facts
Reply to  Swimfan27
2 months ago

Dressel had NCAA records in 3 strokes + IM

IU Swammer
Reply to  Facts
2 months ago

I think this comes down to how you define “versatile.” Seliskar swam across more distances, 50 – 400, while Dressel was 50 – 200. I lean toward Dressel’s insane feat of holding the 100 fly, 100 breast, 100 free, and 200 IM, but there’s something inherently impressive about Seliskar’s range.

Konner Scott
Reply to  IU Swammer
2 months ago

In the event where they meet, the 200 IM, their PBs are .01 apart, as well… which makes it a fun comparison.