Meet Lydia Jacoby, the 17-year-old who became first Alaskan to win Olympic gold in swimming

Edward Sutelan

Meet Lydia Jacoby, the 17-year-old who became first Alaskan to win Olympic gold in swimming image

On a night where the U.S. watched several Olympic and world record-holders dive into the pool at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, it was a 17-year-old Alaskan who took away the spotlight.

Lydia Jacoby, who joined the team from Seward, Alaska, stunned the world when she surged late in the women's 100-meter breaststroke on Monday, beating teammate and reigning Olympic champion Lilly King (who also happens to hold the world record) and South African star Tatyana Schoenmaker for the gold medal in the race. She was already the first Alaskan swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, and now is the state's first Olympic gold medalist.

While everyone knows her name now, she is not far removed from being a relative unknown. She had never competed in a major international event prior to the Olympics. When the U.S. Olympic Trials came around, she was seeded 15th overall in the event before eventually swimming a personal-best time of 1:05.28 to qualify for the team.

MORE: Updated medal winners for every Olympic swimming event

Here's what you need to know about Jacoby:

Accomplished from a young age

Jacoby has been in the pool since she was 6 years old. She started competing for the Seward Tsunami Swim Club and, in a state that isn't particularly known for its swimming, took down her first state record at age 12, according to SwimSwam. Now she holds three long-course meter records — in the 50 breaststroke, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke — and three short-course yard records in the same events, according to SwimCloud.

Age 14 saw several major milestones for Jacoby: She won two high school state championships in the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke and qualified to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials by hitting the standard at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals swim meet, according to SwimSwam.

Those would not be her only high school state championships, as she added another one the following year, in July 2019, along with two Alaska Long Course Championships in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, according to SwimCloud. Later that summer, she took her talents to the national stage, where she won the Speedo Junior National Championship in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:08.12. That qualified her for the U.S. Junior National Team.

Also a random fun fact about her: She was born on Feb. 29, 2004. So her official birthday only comes around on leap years.

Unique training during pandemic

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the world was forced to adjust its daily routines as public places began to close. For athletes, that largely cut off access to gyms and pools. Especially for Jacoby living in Seward, Alaska, a town with a population under 3,000, she was going to be very restricted in how she could prepare for the Olympic Trials.

In an interview with Alaska News Now, Jacoby said she lifted weights in her garage and ran outside with ice cleats. She added that her dad built a squat cage in the backyard to help her with lifting.

Jacoby eventually had to return to the water, and with the Seward High School pool closed, she was forced to move more than two hours north to Anchorage with her mom to train with the Northern Lights Swim Club, according to the Peninsula Clarion.

“It worked out well in Anchorage because swimming was all I would do. I’d swim every morning and dry-land train every evening," Jacoby told the Peninsula Clarion.

Multi-talented

Jacoby doesn't just limit her talents to the water: She has also shown off her skills on the stage and in the paper.

According to the Seward Journal, she has been part of the Snow River String Band, where she plays bluegrass music, for six years. She not only sings, but also knows how to play the piano, double bass and guitar. Jacoby has also appeared on the stage as a cast member in several plays.

Readers of the Seward Journal will find her name in more places than the body copy. She has also been spotted sporting a byline in the page. Her most recent article with the paper came on June 13, 2020, when she wrote about, you guessed it, swimming.

And if all that isn't enough, the Seward Journal also reported that her main interest in a long-term career is in fashion; she plans to major in textile and apparel design and management when she joins the University of Texas in 2022.

“I would like to work in the fashion industry when I’m older,” Jacoby told the Seward Journal. “I’m also interested in journalism, so maybe incorporating that into some sort of fashion magazine position. They also have an amazing business school, so right now I’m thinking about minoring in business. I think that would be a great tool to have in my belt.”

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.