All eyes will be on Cayman’s top four athletes as they participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which begin with a lavish opening ceremony on Friday, 26 July.
Swimming superstar Jordan Crooks, representing the islands’ best hope for a medal, and sailor Charlotte Webster will bear the nation’s flag at the opening ceremony. They will be accompanied by Jillian Crooks, participating in her second Olympics, and sprinting sensation Davontè Howell.
The Crooks siblings will start things off for team Cayman in their respective 100-metre freestyle heats on 30 July, at the Paris La Defense Arena.
The results of those heats will determine if they move on to the semi-finals later that day, and the finals on 31 July.
For 18-year-old Jillian – the nation’s youngest Olympian and fastest Caymanian female ever, it’s about putting her best stroke forward in the French capital.
“I want to put all the hard work I have done in training into that race,” she told the Compass. “I am just thinking about going out there and racing.”
Team Cayman Oly schedule
Men’s 100m free heats
Jordan Crooks
30 July – Time: 4am (Cayman time)Women’s 100m free heats
Jillian Crooks
30 July – Time: 4am (Cayman time)Women’s Dinghy race 1
Charlotte Webster
1 Aug. – Time: TBDMen’s 50m free heats
Jordan Crooks
1 Aug. – Time: 4am (Cayman time)Men’s 100m prelims
Davontè Howell
3 Aug. – Time: 3:35am (Cayman time)
Brother Jordan, 22, is slated to return for the 50m heats on 1 Aug. Jordan, Cayman’s first world champion who is now on the cusp of potentially earning his homeland’s first Olympic medal, said he is not carrying that weight on his shoulders.
Instead, he noted to the Compass that he is just planning to swim as fast as he possibly can and not limit himself to one specific result or goal.
He holds the two sprint national records (50m: 21.71, 100m: 47.71) – two A-cut Olympic times that he swam at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Meanwhile, over at Marseille Marina, Webster, 20, will sail in two back-to-back races in the women’s dinghy fleet.
Webster, the top-ranked female sailor in Cayman, will finally get to split the waves against the world’s best after a consistent schedule of competition over the last three years.
She admitted to the Compass that, as much as she would love to get a medal one day, she believes her first Olympics will be challenging, but it’s a challenge she welcomes.
“I am going to give it my best and put Cayman on the map, ensure that there is a female sailor from the Caribbean that, despite all odds, proved herself,” she said.
Webster will race two more times the following day and twice more for races five and six on 3 Aug.
On the day of Webster’s final race, track star Howell, 18, will be running in the men’s 100m preliminary round at the Stade de France.
It’s a dream that started eight years prior, when his father Dave told him he’d be at the Olympics in 2024. The two-time CARIFTA gold medallist enters the famous 100m event with a personal best of 10.09 seconds – a time he plans to shave in Paris with hopes of making it past the heats.
“I don’t want to say I’m going there for the experience … So, hopefully, [qualifying for] at least the semi-finals or finals, I would be really happy with [that],” Howell said.
Those looking to following the action live, download the sportsmax app or get highlights from the Olympic social media pages. The opening ceremony begins at 12:30 pm Cayman time on Friday, 26 July.
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