Cayman Islands' Jordan Crooks stunned the men's 50m freestyle semi-finals at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 by taking first in his heat, defeating eight-time Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel. This remarkable achievement makes Crooks the first person from the Cayman Islands to ever advance to an Olympic final.
The 22-year-old swam the 50 meters in 21.54 seconds on 1 August and will enter the final with the fourth fastest time.
Right after exiting the pool and still catching his breath, Crooks was already looking ahead to what lies ahead—tomorrow's 50m Olympic final, where he will continue to etch his name in history as the first Caymanian ever to compete for an Olympic medal.
When questioned about the significance of achieving major firsts for his country, he responded, 'It holds great meaning.'
"I'm grateful for all of the support so far throughout the event, so thank you to everybody at home who has been doing a fantastic job supporting me, and hopefully I can make everyone proud tomorrow."
It seems he has already made his island proud, with support spreading across social media, including from Tokyo 2020 gymnast Raegan Rutty.
Crooks is the 2022 short-course world champion and the 2023 NCAA champion in the event.
Earlier in the day, he recorded a personal best of 21.51 in the heats, coming within half a second of the 21.07 Olympic record set by Dressel in Tokyo.
Without any time to celebrate, he said, the focus is now to "rest, recover, and get back and do it again." And if Crooks finds himself on the 50m freestyle podium in Paris, it will be the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that the Cayman Islands flag has been raised as medals are awarded.