Chants of “Jordan, Jordan,” filled the air at Owen Roberts International Airport on Monday 19 December, as Cayman’s very own Jordan Crooks was welcomed home after winning the 50M FINA Freestyle, at the World Championships in Melbourne, Australia.
The 20-year-old from Prospect who is currently studying at the University of Tennessee made history with a time of 20.46, and taking a gold medal back home to the Cayman Islands. It is the first time that Cayman athletes have won a gold in the Championships. Minister for Youth, Sport, and Culture Hon. Bernie Bush greeted Jordan at the airport, along with the Premier, the Hon. Wayne Panton, and other government officials, with many people waving the Cayman flag, and dressed in Cayman flag colors. There was lots of hugging and embracing, and then Jordan began signing autographs for lots of young swimmers, as he has become their hero, and attended a big reception on Wednesday at Heroes’ Square.
Jordan had actually made an significantly faster time in the preliminaries, a lightning-fast 20.31 and a new record for the Cayman Islands. But it was still good enough to beat Ben Pound from Britain who took the Silver, by three hundredths of a second, and Trinidad & Tobago’s Dylan Carter who took the Bronze. “I am really grateful for my God, my coaches, my family and everyone who has helped me along this journey. It means a lot to see this come to light. This is awesome,” he said.
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