The international sporting community has reacted with awe to Jordan Crooks’ “perfect” world-record-breaking swim, after the Caymanian star made history at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships.
On Sunday, Crooks successfully defended the world title he first won two years ago by clinching gold in the men’s 50-metre freestyle in Budapest. But it was the 22-year-old’s performances a day prior that have the wider swimming world even more abuzz with excitement.
First sneaking under the previous world record in the event’s heats, Crooks blew the competition out of the water as he further lowered that all-time best in the semi-finals, clocking in at 19.90 seconds to become the first human in history to finish the event in fewer than 20 seconds – a barrier long-tested but never broken, until now.
Reacting to the moment, leading swim commentator Kyle Sockwell said the performance should earn Crooks “the fast pass to the swimming hall of fame”.
Sockwell, a former American collegiate swimmer who has become one of the biggest names in swimming media, told the Cayman Compass the past week has only further cemented Crooks’ status as an A-lister in the sport and “the fastest swimmer on the planet”.
“To put this into perspective, it might be the last time we ever see a barrier of this magnitude broken in this event,” he said. “A running joke that I make within the swimming community is that a 19.99 is about five seconds faster than a 20.00, and I think many swimmers agree.
“The list of athletes that have tried and failed to break this barrier is long, very long, and the list of names that have succeeded only needs one row.”
Indeed, Crooks’ record-setting performance – which sparked equal outpourings of admiration and ‘How did he do it?’ analysis across the internet, from those in the swimming world and beyond – means he is the fastest in history by several tenths of a second, as well as owning three of the top five times ever in the event.
The only other two names on that list are British sprinting great Ben Proud, and former world-record-holder Caeleb Dressel, the American sensation who won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics and tussled with the 20-second barrier for years – including at special events where he was permitted to wear an outlawed ‘supersuit’ – to no avail.
‘Jordan smoked the world’
Crooks’ time, therefore, has widely garnered acclaim as the most impressive world record of the many which were broken in Budapest, as reported by Swimming World.
Brett Hawke, a two-time Australian Olympian sprinter turned coach and top swimming podcaster, described the performance as “perfection” while fellow swim media personality Sonny Trigg said he was “gobsmacked” and “shell-shocked” by the “coolest swim I’ll ever see”.
Andrei Vorontsov, a renowned coach and academic responsible for training countless world class swimmers including Sarah Sjöström, who many regard as the greatest sprinter of all time, said the young Caymanian “did not leave a chance to his opponents”.
Meanwhile, ex-Cayman Islands and Stingray Swim Club head coach David Pursley said he had “never seen somebody dominate a 50 on the world stage like that before”, adding, “Jordan smoked the world, it wasn’t even close. He had won by the halfway point, every time.”
Glancing back at the past several results in this event at this level, Pursley appears to be right.
Crooks won gold by 0.03 seconds back in 2022; this time he was 0.38 seconds ahead of the silver medallist in the final, while the world record he set in the semi-finals was well over half a second quicker than any other competitor at the meet.
That margin, in the sport’s shortest event, is the biggest in a final in the last decade.
Commercial opportunities
Adding further significance to Crooks’ achievement, this is just the third aquatics world record ever set by a Caribbean swimmer, while his historic wins as a person of colour also serve as major milestones in a sport that remains severely underrepresented by that demographic.
“There’re thousands of kids all over the world trying to do underwaters like Jordan Crooks right now,” said Sockwell, adding that the Cayman Olympian’s trajectory is notably similar to that of Dressel, who dominated short-course metres and yards competitions throughout his college career before translating that success into medals on the Olympic stage.
“One of the more difficult and frankly annoying things with swimming is that it takes a long time to get your name out there,” the US-based content creator continued. “Breaking a world record of this significance and rolling right back into the college swimming season plays into Jordan’s favour in a big way.
“If you see a couple new sponsors pop up on Jordan’s Instagram feed soon, don’t be shocked – he’s earned them.”
Pursley, who coached in Cayman for close to a decade before leaving the Islands in 2022, said the writing was on the wall for Crooks to break the world record after the latter’s recent performances at a mid-season collegiate competition, and that he “can’t believe” he hadn’t already attracted more international attention and sponsorship deals.
“That absolutely will change,” Pursley said. “Michael Phelps may still be the only name people widely know outside the swimming world, but everyone who knows swimming knows Jordan Crooks.
“There’s going to be sponsorships coming out of the woodwork now, so it’s all about what he can get on a consistent basis, as lot of deals in swimming are based on performances.
“The longevity of his career is going to depend on what he can get in terms of consistent funding.”
He added: “After college, going out fishing with world records and world championship medals around your neck isn’t such a bad gig, but his success definitely opens more doors to a pro career for him.
“He’s going to have people banging on his door, there’s no question about it – not least because he’s just starting to hit the peak of his career. As strong as he is already, as a man he won’t even be at his physical peak for another four years, when he’s about 26.
“I pray he keeps swimming because he’s got a lot left in him; he’s only getting better and he’s still playing around with things in his races so it’s clear he wants to get better.”
Sockwell agrees: “Knowing Jordan outside of just his accolades and demeanour behind the starting blocks, he’s an incredibly laid-back guy who enjoys time away from the bright lights. While this swim opens up more possibilities, I still see Jordan as someone who sticks to the plan that he has laid out in his mind.
“Swim through [the Olympics in] 2028? I could see it. Retire after this college swimming season and start his own fishing charter company? I could see that as well.
“But if I had to guess, he’s too good and too smart to retire before giving an Olympic medal another run. Selfishly I’d love to see that guy on an Olympic podium in 2028 as well.”
Another record in sight
Before then, though, a shot at another world record – Dressel’s all-time mark in the 50-yard freestyle – beckons.
“Dressel’s 17.63 50-yard freestyle is likely one of the most famous records on the books,” Sockwell explained. “If Jordan, who is the only other person in history to swim the event quicker than 18 seconds, took out that record too, he’d without question be seen as one of the greatest short-course swimmers in history.
“With that being said, I’d expect his mind has flipped straight back to being a leader on a college team that has a ton of momentum right now, the Tennessee Volunteers.
“March (the 2025 NCAA Swimming Championships) can’t come quickly enough!”
Related Videos
Awesome!