UT's Jordan Crooks won the NCAA title in the men's 50 meter freestyle swimming event tonight, so congrats to him. Another Vol swimmer, freshman Guy Caribe, also made the final and came in 8th.
Crooks's time, by his standard, wasn't great tonight because the starter held all the swimmers for a LONG time after the "set"--and it threw off all the swimmers off. Many
people on a major swimming website are complaining about the starter--saying she ruined the race. Of course she didn't truly ruin it--our man won. And it's
actually amazing that he did win as he was not only slowest off the blocks among the 8 starters in the FINAl, he was slowest off the blocks among all 16 of the finalists (including the B final). To win a 50 meter race--which is over in a flash---just over 18 seconds---when you're slowest off the blocks is nearly impossible to do. But Crooks is special.
Our 200 meter freestyle relay team came in 4th, so it was a good night in the pool for the Vols, except for our excellent diver, Breyden Hattie, who
was expected to do well in all three diving events, had a bad preliminary and didn't even make the Finals in the 1-meter. He's got a chance
to redeem himself on 3-meter and Platform, so let's hope he can bounce back.
Crooks's time, by his standard, wasn't great tonight because the starter held all the swimmers for a LONG time after the "set"--and it threw off all the swimmers off. Many
people on a major swimming website are complaining about the starter--saying she ruined the race. Of course she didn't truly ruin it--our man won. And it's
actually amazing that he did win as he was not only slowest off the blocks among the 8 starters in the FINAl, he was slowest off the blocks among all 16 of the finalists (including the B final). To win a 50 meter race--which is over in a flash---just over 18 seconds---when you're slowest off the blocks is nearly impossible to do. But Crooks is special.
Our 200 meter freestyle relay team came in 4th, so it was a good night in the pool for the Vols, except for our excellent diver, Breyden Hattie, who
was expected to do well in all three diving events, had a bad preliminary and didn't even make the Finals in the 1-meter. He's got a chance
to redeem himself on 3-meter and Platform, so let's hope he can bounce back.
