How Cayman Islands’ Jordan Crooks came from the clouds to win World Championship gold

A country known for its beautiful beaches and resorts, its sporting history is rich, if not hugely successful.

They’ve competed at every summer Olympics since Montreal in 1976 and hold a strong record at swimming world championships.

However, they’re yet to ever win a medal.

National heroes like Brett and Shaune Fraser competed internationally and held records for nearly a decade.

But no one has quite put the country on the map like 20-year-old Jordan Crooks.

Two of the blue ribbon events at the world short course championships this week — the men’s 50m and 100m freestyle — had been centred around one showdown.

Kyle Chalmers v David Popovici.

The Australian Olympic champion and local hero, taking on the wonder kid who is set to take the world by storm.

In the heats and semi-finals, they were quickly relegated to second billing as Crooks came from the clouds to create history in Melbourne.

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“I’ve never made a semi or a final before,” says Crooks.

It’s hard to believe considering just how much he has achieved in the 25-metre pool this week.

It started with the 100-metre freestyle. Crooks was placed in heat six, an unseeded race, usually a sign of the inauspicious things to come.

No one in the races before him had come close to the qualifying time needed for the semi-finals, and he wasn’t expected to either.

Instead, the youngster completed his first lap in 10.21 seconds. Not one of the 83 other racers across the heats went quicker.

Crooks kept that pace up, stopping the clock at 45.61, almost two seconds and a whole body length in front, to win his heat.

It was a performance that immediately placed him in the annals of Cayman Island history, breaking Shaune Fraser’s national record by two seconds.

“I’m beating people I looked up to,” Crooks reflects.

“The Fraser brothers, I grew up watching them swim and having them as role models. Being able to reach the level they were at once, I’m really happy.”

He went into the semi-finals as the fastest qualifier. He delivered again, beating out Chalmers to secure another personal best of 45.55 and lane four for the final.

Standing on the centre block ahead of the biggest race of his career, the significance of the moment was not lost on him.

“I hope that it resonates with any little kid out there who may think that just because they’re from a small place it may not be possible. It doesn’t mean a thing,” Crooks says.

“[The Cayman Islands] is a really tiny place and we don’t necessarily have the opportunities that a lot of bigger countries have.

“But I hope that anyone watching can use it as motivation to show them that it is possible, it doesn’t matter where you come from.”

Despite leading going into the last 25m of the final, Crooks was unable to keep the pace up and faded to finish sixth.

There was no time to dwell, he was soon back in the pool for the 50m freestyle and it was the same story.

Crooks blitzed the heats, stopping the clock at 20.36, 0.34 seconds faster than any of his rivals. It also placed him in the top five 50m freestyle short course performances, ever.

Another semi-final, another personal best. This time 20.31.

“I look at the 100 (metres) as a lesson,” he says.

“I was able to swim it three times and had three different races. It is [motivation].”

He took that to heart, producing another incredible swim in the final to touch the wall first and claim the Cayman Islands’ first World Championship medal.

“I think I definitely had a bit of fire in my belly to come back and show my hand again in the finals. Very satisfied with the result.”

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Crooks always wanted to be a swimmer. But it was a move to the University of Tennessee that escalated his progression.

In his first year in the NCAA system, Crooks became the fastest freshman over 50 yards ever, beating Caeleb Dressel’s mark from 2015.

“I was sceptical going into the college swimming world, but I don’t think I could have picked a better program to swim for,” he says.

“My coaches are the best coaches in the world.”

They’ve clearly implemented the right program because the improvement has been exponential. In Melbourne this week, what has become obvious is his speed underwater and ability to gain extra momentum off the turn.

It’s something the 20-year-old has worked extensively on, to ensure he is saving every second he can.

“I’ve always been a little bit better underwater than on top, so I naturally stay under as long as I legally can.

“Sometimes [I train] with the parachute, sometimes against a tower for resistance or weights, all that type of stuff.”

It’s one thing to train that way, but to put it into practice on the international stage – while dealing with the added pressure of swimming in the lanes next to some of his idols – has been incredible.

The fact he was standing onto the podium next to them will take some time to comprehend.

“It’s cool to race with a lot of guys I grew up looking up to,” Crooks says.

“I met Ben Proud, he’s a cool guy. At the last worlds at Budapest, I was able to watch him swim and look up to him and study his stroke a bit.

“I have a lot of respect for him. It was an honour to be able to share the podium with him.”

And while he started the week as a relative unknown, Crooks’ rivals won’t be forgetting his name anytime soon.

“I think it’s amazing,” Chalmers said. “I love guys coming out of nowhere and achieving great things.

“He’s proved that he doesn’t have to be in the seceded heats to swim fast and go 20.3. He probably deserves the gold medal [before the final]. His start and turn is amazing.

“It would be amazing for the Cayman Islands and amazing for our events going forward.”

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As Chalmers looked to the stands to see the entire Australian team cheering him on for the final, Crooks knew his supporters would be outnumbered.

But he wouldn’t want anyone else looking back at him.

In the crowd was his sister Jillian, the only other member of the two-strong Cayman Islands team in Melbourne this week.

She also broke the national record this week at the world championships in both the 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly.

The 16-year-old younger sibling documenting every moment as he made his way through a crowd of volunteers clamouring for his signature.

Alongside her was their mother, riding every emotion for those frantic 20 seconds.

“It means a lot,” he says. “I’m really happy to be able to share these moments with them.

“And my sister as well, the way she performed, she got two national records and she’s only 16. She has a lot more left in her and I’m really proud of her.”

Even if Crooks had come away from Melbourne empty-handed, he can be content that he’s already achieved everything he wanted to this week.

When he finally turns his phone back on to the hundreds of messages that await him – “I’ve tried to stay off it during the meet” – he’ll realise just how far he has exceeded expectations.

“I just wanted to have fun.

“I didn’t swim at this meet last year so I wasn’t sure what it was like.

“My main goal was to try and experience a semi-final and a final for the first time so I was happy I was able to do that.”