UVA Pro Elite SCM Worlds Prep Meet
- October 15-16, 2026
- Aquatic and Fitness Center, Charlottesville, VA
- SCM (25 meters)
- Friday AM Heat Sheet
- Live Results Available on Meet Mobile: “2026 UVA Pro Elite SCM Worlds Prep Meet” or search “Charlottesville”
- SwimSwam Live Recaps
Men’s 50m Backstroke
Top 3 Finishers:
- Jordan Crooks (TNAQ) – 22.60 *U.S. Open Record*
- Lamar Taylor (TNAQ) – 23.41
- Pietro Ubertalli (WOLF) – 24.38
Jordan Crooks set a huge new lifetime best of 22.60 in the 50 back to claim a dominant victory at the UVA Pro Elite SCM Worlds Prep Meet today, lowering Hubert Kos‘s former U.S. Open record by 0.05 seconds.
Crooks’ previous best stood at 25.23, swum at the 2020 Cayman Islands National Swimming Championships, but he dabbled in the stroke while at Tennessee. He never swam either the 50 or the 100 at a championships meet, but held best times of 21.11 in the 50 yard back (from February 2025) and 45.55 in the 100 yard back (from November 2022).
He owns a best time of 26.49 in the long course 50 back as well, but most of his international swims have been in freestyle. He is the SCM world record holder in the 50 free, clocking 19.90 in the semi-finals at the 2024 World Championships, still the only swim in history under 20 seconds.
Crooks ranks as the 12th-fastest swimmer in history in the event, and is less than a tenth of a second off Ryan Murphy‘s Americas record of 22.53.
Men’s SCM 50 Back, All-Time Top 12 Performers
- Pieter Coetze (RSA), 2026 – 22.09
- Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2022 – 22.11
- Florent Manaudou (FRA), 2014 – 22.22
- Egor Kornev (RUS), 2026 – 22.23
- Pavel Samusenko (RUS), 2026 – 22.35
- Miron Lifintsev (RUS), 2024 – 22.47
- Isaac Cooper (AUS), 2024 – 22.49
- Ryan Murphy (USA), 2021 – 22.53
- Guilherme Guido (BRA), 2019 – 22.55
- Shane Ryan (IRL), 2024 – 22.56
- Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 2018 – 22.58
- Jordan Crooks (CAY), 2026 – 22.60
Crooks may now consider this event for the World Short Course Championships in Beijing in December. While this meet does not serve as the qualification meet for the U.S. team, it does fall within the qualifying window for the meet.
He now ranks 4th in the world this season.
| 2 | Egor Kornev |
RUS | 22.23 | 10/02 |
| 3 | Pavel SAMUSENKO |
RUS | 22.35 | 10/09 |
| 4 | Jordan CROOKS |
CAY | 22.60 | 10/16 |
| 5 | Ralf TRIBUNTSOV |
RUS | 22.72 | 10/09 |
Crooks won the 100 free last night in 45.98, just over a second off his lifetime best of 44.95 from the 2024 World Championships. He is entered in the 50 fly and the 50 free in today’s PM session.
This is his first meet since the 2025 NCAA Championships, where he won the 50 free and placed second in the 100 free. Just over a month later he announced that he would be taking a break from swimming, opting against swimming through the summer having placed 8th in the 50 free at the Olympics in Paris one year previously. He announced his return earlier this year, and has been training back at Tennessee.
