Jordan Crooks, the Cayman Islands’ most decorated athlete in history, has decided to step away from the sport of swimming, he announced in an Instagram post on Tuesday, 6 May.
Crooks, 23, an Olympic finalist and two-time world champion, said, “For now, I’ll be stepping away from competing. Looking forward to exploring all that life has to offer. Till we meet again.”
He also thanked his nation, the University of Tennessee, family and friends who’ve supported his swimming journey thus far.
Crooks alluded to his break from competitive swimming in April in an interview with SwimSwam.
“For now, I’m just going to take a step back and focus on school and just live in the NARP [non-athletic regular person] life and relax for a little bit. Get the body and the mind right, and we’ll see what the future holds,” he told the sports publication.
“No idea what it does hold for now, but just kind of enjoying basking in what we’ve been able to accomplish this year and being super grateful for our four years at Tennessee. Wouldn’t have wanted to do it anywhere else, and we’ll see where life takes me soon.”
Crooks, still in the prime of his career and a senior at Tennessee, closed his collegiate competition at the recent NCAA Championships, where he reclaimed the title in the 50 freestyle.
During that championships, he broke Caeleb Dressel’s 100 free record of 39.90, after touching the wall at 39.83 and becoming the second man to go sub-40.
Prior to that, Crooks made history at the 2024 Short Course World Championships, becoming the first man to break the 20-second barrier in the 50m free with a legendary swim of 19.90 seconds.
Jordan Crooks defends his world championship title
Crooks, the first Caymanian to reach an Olympic swimming final, following the Paris Games, was the frontrunner for the Cayman delegation of LA28. Despite his announcement, optimism for his return is not out of the question, with Crooks seemingly leaving the door open, saying “till we meet again”.
When asked by SwimSwam if he would pursue another Olympics, he said, “That’s a million-dollar question that we’re still trying to figure out, but we’ll see. We’ll see where it goes. You can never rule it out, and I’m not 100% sure what we’ll do, but I’ll be here in Knoxville for the future, just kind of figuring things out one day at a time. But for now, back to the school grind.”
