Jordan Crooks Shakes Kyle Chalmers’ World Record in the 100 Free in Prelims

2024 Short Course World Championships

A one-turn guy no more, the defending World Short Course Champion Jordan Crooks broke the Championship Record, and very-nearly the World Record, in the 100 short course meter free on Wednesday morning in prelims at the 2024 Short Course World Championships.

Crooks, from the Cayman Islands, swam 44.95, which ties him as the third-fastest performer in the event in history and makes him the fastest swimmer since Australian Kyle Chalmers broke the World Record at the 2021 World Cup.

Crooks’ previous personal best and Cayman Islands Record was a 45.55 done at this meet in 2022, where he was the top performer in the semifinals. He went on to add .22 seconds in the final, tying with Pan Zhanle for 6th place.

The former Championship Record was set a half-day earlier when Jack Alexy of the USA swam 45.05 to lead off the World Record setting American 400 free relay in finals. Alexy was just 9th in prelims on Wednesday with a 46.57.

Splits Comparison

The splits table shows how far Crooks has progressed in the back-half of his race. The first 50 split was identical to his old personal best time, but he cleared six-tenths off the back half of the race – including out-splitting Chalmers, who is more of a 100-200 guy than a 50-100 guy and so has good endurance for a sprinter.

This 100 progression has shown up for Crooks in all three courses over the last 18 months. He’s dropped a second off his best time in the 100 yard free since the 2022 SC World Championships, going a best time of 40.26 a few weeks ago at the Tennessee Invite; and a second off his best time in the 100 meter free in long course in the same time period, going 47.71 at the 2023 World Championships.

Crooks’ next big challenge will be going his best time in finals, which is something he’s struggled with throughout his career in all courses. While he was well-clear of the field, by almost a second, in prelims, there are some sharks lurking behind him, including Alexy, American Chris Guiliano (45.94 in prelims), Frenchman Maxime Grousset (46.01 in prelims), and Crooks’ University of Tennessee teammate Gui Santos (46.06 in prelims).

All-Time Top Performances, 100 SCM Freestyle

1. Kyle Chalmers, Australia – 44.84 (2021)
2. Amaury Leveaux, France – 44.94 (2009)
3. (TIE) Vlad Morozov, Russia (2018)/Jordan Crooks, Cayman Islands (2024) – 44.95
5. Kyle Chalmers, Australia – 45.03 (2021)
6. Florent Manaudou, France – 45.04 (2013)
7. Jack Alexy, USA – 45.05 (2024)
8. (TIE) Nathan Adrian, USA (2009)/Caeleb Dressel, USA (2020) – 45.08
10. Amaury Leveaux, France – 45.12 (2009)