The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) announced swimmers Kate Douglass and Jordan Crooks as finalists for the James E. Sullivan Award, recognizing the nation’s most outstanding amateur athlete for the 2022-23 season.
There are six finalists.
Douglass, a Virginia senior, added seven new NCAA titles to her long list of accomplishments at the 2023 NCAA Women’s Division I Swimming Championships. She led the Cavaliers with three individual wins in the 200-yard individual medley, 100y butterfly and 200y breaststroke, setting American, NCAA and U.S. Open records in all three.
She went on to qualify for the World Aquatics Championships and earned a gold medal in the 200 IM an silver in the 200 breaststroke, also winning world medals on relays.
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Crooks, a Tennessee swimmer was voted as one of six finalists by fans after being named a semifinalist in July, earned this recognition following a historic sophomore campaign that featured a National Championship, three SEC Championships and a Short Course World Championship. Crooks was also named the 2023 SEC Swimmer of the Year, becoming only the fourth Vol to receive that honor.
Most recently, Crooks competed at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, where he posted top-8 finishes in the sprint freestyles while breaking the Cayman Islands national records and notching 2024 Paris Olympics qualifying times. He finished sixth overall in the 50 free and seventh in the 100 free after placing 19th and 21st, respectively, in those events at last summer’s World Championships.
Voting for the James E. Sullivan Award begins on August 9 and runs through August 16 and can be found at Sullivan Finalists Voting. The winner of the 93rd AAU Sullivan Award will be announced during an awards ceremony at the historic New York Athletic Club on Tuesday, September 19.