Caymanian Jordan Crooks is now a two-time world champion after defending his 50-metre freestyle title at the Duna Arena in Budapest on Sunday, 15 Dec – a monumental result on the heels of his world-record-setting performances less than 24 hours ago.
His races at the 2024 World Aquatic Championships not only puts him miles above his country’s greatest athletes, regardless of sport, but he has skyrocketed ahead of regional and international greats, establishing himself as one of the best to ever grace the sport of swimming.
Crooks, 22, finished his 50m free final in 20.19 to win gold ahead of Guilherme Santos in second and Jack Alexy who finished third.
Prior to the final, Crooks became the fastest swimmer in history after breaking the world record, not once, but twice on Saturday, 14 Dec.
He finished his 50m free heat in a record time of 20.08 – destroying the previous record of 20.16 set by American Caeleb Dressel in 2020.
Then he smashed his own record in the semi-final, becoming the first swimmer in history to go sub-20 with leading time of 19.90 seconds.
Crooks, however, isn’t just walking away with his second world title. He is also taking home two US$25,000 cheques and a bronze medal for the 100m free event, which he swam earlier in the championships.
He hit the pool for the 100m final on Thursday, 12 Dec., touching the wall at 45.48 seconds, behind Guiherme Santos in second (45.47) and Jack Alexy, in first (45.38).
He won the 100m free heat on Wednesday, touching the wall a blink away from a world record, finishing in a time of 44.95 seconds – a new championship record and .11 off the world record.
That time in his heat also tied him for the third fastest short course swimmer in history behind Kyle Chalmers (44.84) and Amaury Leveaux (44.94).
Crooks previously won gold at the 2022 World Aquatic Championships in Melbourne, becoming Cayman’s first world champion.
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