It was business as usual for Jordan Crooks with the Caymanian athlete claiming more records for the University of Tennessee at his first competition of the swim season.
Crooks, now a junior with the Volunteers, got off to a flying start at the Tennessee Invitational, which took place 15-17 Nov., at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
On the first day of competition, the 2023 SEC Swimmer of the Year joined his three teammates in the 400-yard medley relay, taking first with a time of 3:05.52 – the fastest finish in the conference this year and sixth fastest in Tennessee history.
Crooks then contributed to the NCAA leading time (1:16.03) of the season in the 200-yard free relay, thanks to his 18.46 split. He followed that up by winning the ‘A’ final 50-yard free in 18.40 – the fastest time in the US so far this season.
On day two, 16 Nov., Crooks hit the pool for the 800 free relay, swimming the first 200 yards of his leadoff split in 1:32.07 – as part of the final time of 6:19.77, for the eighth-fastest in his school’s history and the top finish in the SEC this year. Crooks continued his impressive outing with an SEC-leading time of 45.30 in the 100 butterfly.
The following day, Crooks notched another top time of 41.08 to earn the win in the 100 free and place himself at the top of the nation’s current leaderboards for 2023.
In the last event of the meet, he was a member of the 400 free relay in the ‘A’ final and touched the wall in 41.03 to improve his nation-leading split time. The overall time of the 400 free relay was 2:47.61 – the top mark in the conference so far this year and the second-fastest finish in Tennessee history.
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