{"id":533545,"date":"2023-07-25T19:46:43","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T02:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=533545"},"modified":"2023-07-25T19:46:43","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T02:46:43","slug":"world-championships-jordan-crooks-makes-transition-to-long-course-two-tennessee-swimmers-in-100-free-semis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/world-championships-jordan-crooks-makes-transition-to-long-course-two-tennessee-swimmers-in-100-free-semis\/","title":{"rendered":"World Championships: Jordan Crooks Makes Transition to Long Course; Two Tennessee Swimmers in 100 Free Semis"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Championships: Jordan Crooks Makes Transition to Long Course; Two Tennessee Swimmers in 100 Free Semis<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the most recent season of college swimming,\u00a0Jordan Crooks<\/strong> put together historically speedy performances across the board for the University of Tennessee. Crooks became the second man ever to crack 18 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, his top time of 17.93 only three tenths off the all-time record held by\u00a0Caeleb Dressel<\/strong>, and he also moved into a tie for 10th all-time in the 100-yard free (40.92).<\/p>\n

In the midst of that season, Crooks made a global impact. Representing the Cayman Islands, he won gold in the 50-meter free at the Short Course World Championships, a meet where he also was a finalist in the 100 free.<\/p>\n

But in long course, Crooks remained unproven, and he struggled during in-season meets to approximate his short course results. Entering the World Championships, he was seeded 30th in the 100 free at 48.79. But in his first swim, the 21-year-old made quick work of that as he jumped into the mix with the world’s top sprinters.<\/p>\n

Swimming in lane nine in his heat, Crooks went out in front of a strong field and held on to finish a close third behind only 200 free world champion Matt Richards<\/strong> and 2016 Olympic champion\u00a0Kyle Chalmers<\/strong>. Crooks swam a time of 47.77 to knock more than one second off his entry time, and he ended up as the third seed for the final.<\/p>\n

Surprise: Crooks\u00a0will<\/em> be a factor on the world stage in long course. He has built sufficient endurance to last over a 100-meter long course race while his fast-twitch speed and power was already world class, as evidenced by his results in short course.<\/p>\n

We’ll see if Crooks can drop that time any further to reach the speed required for true medal contention in the 100 free, but he likely has a better chance to contend for a medal when the 50 free comes around in the program. He is seeded even lower in that event, his best time of 22.20 only good enough for the 40th-best entry time. Expect that one to be annihilated in two days.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Crooks will encounter some familiar company in the semifinals:\u00a0Jack Alexy<\/strong>, this year’s NCAA runnerup in the 100-yard free qualified second in prelims at 47.68 while\u00a0Josh Liendo<\/strong>, the NCAA winner and last year’s bronze medalist in this event, was seventh in 48.03. And the last qualifier into the semifinals was Brazil’s\u00a0Gui Caribe Santos<\/strong>, Crooks’ training partner in Knoxville, Tenn.<\/p>\n

Caribe swam a time of 48.34 to knock Hungary’s\u00a0Szebasztian Szabo<\/strong> out of the semifinal round by two hundredths, so he will race three lanes away from Crooks in semifinal one Wednesday evening. And Caribe might have just as high a ceiling as Crooks after he split a blistering 46.76 as part of Brazil’s 400 free relay on day one, the second-quickest split in the entire race behind Chalmers.<\/p>\n

Most likely, we have not seen the last of the Tennessee swimmers in the men’s sprint freestyle events in Fukuoka.<\/p>\n