The Cayman Islands have announced their swimming team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Jordan Crooks and Gillian Crooks As the sole representative.
Jordan Crooks He will make his Olympic debut after qualifying in both the 50m and 100m freestyle events, and at the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, he easily surpassed the FINA A-cut in those events to earn a spot on the Olympic team.
Recently, Jordan earned the honor of becoming the country's first swimming world champion in the 50-meter freestyle, competing in the 2022 and 2023 Long Course World Championships, as well as the 2022 Short Course World Championships.
Last year at the 2023 World Championships, they placed sixth and seventh in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle, respectively.
Jordan has also had great success on the short course, being one of just two swimmers to break 18 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle. He ranks second all-time behind Caleb Dressel.
Jordan's lifetime best time of 21.73 in the 50m freestyle put him within reach of becoming the first Cayman Islands swimmer to reach an Olympic swimming final.
Not since the supersuit era of 2008 has a time faster than 21.78 seconds been required to qualify for the 50m freestyle final, and Jordan seems perfectly placed within that competitive range.
The Cayman Islands have only reached an Olympic final in track and field once in their history, finishing eighth in the 200 metres at the 2008 Olympics.
Gillian Crooks' sister Jordan CrooksThis will be her second time making the Olympic team, having made it to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 (1). Like her brother, Jillian qualified in the 100m freestyle and will be looking to improve on her 51st-place finish in 2021.
Gillian qualified to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games through the Universality Program, which allows National Olympic Committees to enter one male and one female swimmer who do not meet the qualification criteria but who meet certain participation standards set by FINA.
Last summer, at the 2023 World Championships, Gillian finished 32nd in the 50m freestyle and 23rd in the 100m freestyle. Though she's only 17 years old, she is the fastest Cayman Islands swimmer in history.
Her best time in this event is 55.18 seconds, which she achieved at the Commonwealth Youth Games in August 2023. Gillian has also had great success in the short-course yard pool, winning the 2023 Winter Junior East in the 100 yard freestyle in an incredible 47.30 seconds.
She represents the TAC Titans, based in Cary, North Carolina.
Both Jillian and Jordan will compete for the Tennessee Volunteers this season. Jillian will enroll at Rocky Top as a freshman in the fall of 2024 and Jordan will be his senior year.
The Cayman Islands first competed in the Olympic Games in 1976 and have competed in every Olympic Games since then except for the 1980 Games. They have never won a medal in any event.
