Lydia Jacoby

2021 TYR Pro Swim Series – Mission Viejo

In April 2021, less than two months after she turned 17 years old, Jacoby took second place in the finals of the 100-meter long course breaststroke at the TYR Pro Swim Series swim meet in Mission Viejo, California with a personal record time of 1:06.38. She finished behind 2016 Olympic gold medalist and world record holder in the event, Lilly King, and before 2019 Pan American Games gold medalist in the event Annie Lazor. Jacoby's swim garnered press coverage from NBC Sports, which featured her swim as a story highlight of the competition heading into the 2020 Olympic Trials in swimming in June 2021. Jacoby's swim was the sixth-fastest time in the world for women in the event so far in the 2021 year. She was the sole female qualifier from the state, while John Heaphy from Eagle River was the sole male qualifier. Both Jacoby and Heaphy were state champions in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley in 2018.

Building up to the Olympic Trials, Jacoby honed in on racing two events during a given meet at the 2021 Alaska Swimming Junior Olympics Championships from June 3–6, 2021 by swimming the short course 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard breaststroke events for Seward Tsunami Swim Club. On the morning on Friday June 4, 2021, Jacoby swam the 2nd fastest time in all prelims heats of the 15 & over girls 100-yard breaststroke qualifying for the finals in the evening of the same day with a time of 1:04.29. In the evening, Jacoby swam the fastest time in the 15 & over girls 100-yard breaststroke finals with a time of 58.87 seconds, swimming the first 50 yards in a time of 28.12 seconds and the second 50 yards in a time of 30.75 seconds. The next day, Saturday June 5, 2021, Jacoby and Heaphy received special recognition following morning warm-ups and before the first of the day's swimming events for their accomplishment of making the US Olympic Trials. During prelims in the morning session Jacoby swam the fastest time in the girls 15 & over 200-yard breaststroke heats with a time of 2:15.09. Following warm-ups and before the first event of finals in the evening of the same day, Heaphy and Jacoby were featured in video form providing supportive messages to the swimmers of the 2021 Alaska Junior Olympics Championships. Jacoby was not listed on the heat sheets for the finals of the girls 15 and over 200-yard breaststroke and she decided to not swim in the finals of the event.

On June 10, 2021, Jacoby was called a "Dark Horse Threat" to the women's 200-meter breaststroke event for the upcoming US Olympic Trials by SwimSwam in part due her 15th place seed time and in part due to her stroke's similarity to the stroke of Leisel Jones. The same day, NBC Sports previewed the women's swimming events for the USA Olympic Trials, highlighting swims by USA women from 2016 to the article's publishing date on June 10, 2021. Ordering best times swum during the 2021 year pre-Olympic Trials, Jacoby was NBC Sports's 2nd place designee for the women's 100-meter breaststroke event at the Olympic Trials. Two days later, the Peninsula Clarion released an estimate of 50 people from her coach for the number of people from Alaska traveling to watch her race in-person.

2020 USA Swimming Olympic Trials In the morning on day two of the Olympic Trials, June 14, 2021, Jacoby competed in the prelims of the 100-meter breaststroke, swimming a 1:06.40 and coming in as the fourth-fastest swim for all heats. With her swim, she became the second Alaskan to advance beyond preliminaries to the next round of competition, semi-finals or finals, at a US Olympic Trials in swimming. Her swim moved her up in the global rankings to fourth-fastest swimmer so far in 2021 for the event and broke the national age group record of 1:05.75 for the long course 100-meter breaststroke in the girls 17–18 age group set by Kasey Carlson at the 2009 World Championships in Rome to win the bronze medal. Lilly King's respect for Jacoby and Jacoby's leap day (February 29) birthday were covered in addition to Jacoby winning her semi-final heat in the NBC telecast of day two semi-finals and finals of the Olympic Trials. Press coverage followed Jacoby's semi-final win and both local and national news outlets mentioned her potential of making the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

On day three, in the evening final of the 100-meter breaststroke, Jacoby swam a personal best time of 1:05.28 and placed second. With this swim, 17-year-old Jacoby qualified for her first US Olympic Team in the 100-meter breaststroke, and lowered her national age group record from the day before. She became the first swimmer from Alaska to qualify for an Olympic Games. In addition to being the first Alaskan swimmer to qualify for an Olympic Games, she was the second Alaskan in any sport to qualify to compete in the 2020 Olympics and the tenth Alaska-born Summer Olympian. In the morning on day five of competition, Jacoby swam a 2:31.29 in the prelims of the 200-meter breaststroke, ranked 26th, and did not qualify for the semi-finals.

2020 Summer Olympics

For her first Olympic Games, Jacoby was one of eleven teenage swimmers on the USA Olympic Swimming Team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. In the 100-meter breaststroke, she was one of 46 entrants in the event for the year's Olympic Games. In the preliminaries of the 100-meter breaststroke, on the second day of swimming competition, she finished in a time of 1:05.52. Overall she ranked second in the prelims, behind South African Tatjana Schoenmaker who swam a 1:04.82 and ahead of American teammate Lilly King who finished with a time of 1:05.55. On the fourth day, she swam a time of 1:04.95 in the final and won the gold medal at of age. Her time was the fastest ever swum by a female American swimmer younger than 18 years of age, setting a new national age group record, abbreviated NAG, for American girls in the 17–18-year-old age group. Her medal was the first gold medal won by an American woman in swimming at the 2020 Olympics.

Based on her results in the 100-meter breaststroke as the fastest female American in the event at the Olympic Games, Jacoby was selected to swim the breaststroke leg of the 4×100-meter mixed medley relay in the final, where she helped the relay place fifth in a time of 3:40.58 alongside finals relay teammates Ryan Murphy, Torri Huske, and Caeleb Dressel. For her 100-meter portion of the relay, Jacoby swam a 1:05.09 without her goggles as they came off her eyes when she dove into the pool to start her swim. She improved upon her split time in the final of the 4×100-meter medley relay, swimming a 1:05.03 for the breaststroke leg of the relay, and helping win a silver medal as part of the finals relay consisting of her, Regan Smith, Torri Huske, and Abbey Weitzeil, in a time of 3:51.73. Jacoby's swims caught the attention of Time magazine who acknowledged her as a "fresh face" highlight of the US swim team at the Olympic Games.

Post-Olympic Games decompression Returning to Seward, Alaska following the Olympic Games, Jacoby was welcomed home on August 5 with a parade and took a few weeks off from swimming to rest. In September, Jacoby was named to the 2021–2022 USA Swimming National Team in the 100-meter breaststroke based on her performances earlier in 2021, it was the first time she made the US National Team, which is open to all ages.

2021 FINA Swimming World Cup

Taking full advantage of her national team status, Jacoby competed in the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup stop in Berlin, Germany on October 1, swimming personal best times in multiple short course meters events including a 2:24.99 in the 200-meter breaststroke. Jacoby had a breakthrough in the short course 100-meter breaststroke race also at the World Cup stop in Berlin, swimming a time of 1:05.20, winning the bronze medal in the event, and ranking her as the 13th fastest female swimmer in the race in 2021 up to then. In her third event in Berlin, the 50-meter breaststroke, Jacoby won the silver medal in a personal best time of 30.04 seconds, finishing less than half a second after Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel. Jacoby was selected as one of a handful of competitors to participate in a press conference at the Berlin stop, with a picture of her at the press conference being featured on the FINA website.

Continuing on the World Cup circuit, Jacoby was highlighted as an American swimmer to watch in Budapest, Hungary at the second stop of the series by Swimming World and FINA for her 100-meter breaststroke. Her first day of competition in Budapest, October 7, Jacoby placed seventh in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2:26.18. The second day in Budapest, Jacoby swam a 1:05.40 in the 100-meter breaststroke final, capturing the silver medal in the event behind Nika Godun of Russia. Jacoby broke 30 seconds for the first time in the final of the 50-meter breaststroke, winning the silver medal in the event with her time of 29.97 seconds. Jacoby ranked 13th amongst female competitors for her score of 86.1 points across all four World Cup stops, she competed at two of the four stops and also ranked as the highest scoring female American swimmer for the entire 2021 World Cup circuit.

Awards season The beginning of the 2021 awards season overlapped a bit with Jacoby competing at the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup, receiving her first nomination in late September, prior to the commencing of World Cup competition, for the James E. Sullivan Award.

Following the first two World Cup stops, in mid-October, she was announced as a nominee for three Golden Goggle Awards, presented annually by the USA Swimming Foundation, in individual categories including "Breakout Performer of the Year", "Female Race of the Year", and "Female Athlete of the Year". Jacoby's nomination for "Breakout Performer of the Year" was inspired by her gold and silver medal performances at the Olympic Games as well as the historical significance of her being the first Olympic swimmer produced by the state of Alaska. Her gold-medal-winning performance in the 100-meter breaststroke earned her the nomination for the "Female Race of the Year" for triumphing as a 17-year-old in a field of competitors composed of primarily of well-established senior swimmers including the current world record-holder and 2016 Olympic Games gold medalist in the event. On December 7, Jacoby won the Golden Goggle Awards for "Breakout Performer of the Year" and "Female Race of the Year".

After receiving her awards nominations, Jacoby balanced the recognition out with some last high school competition, winning state titles in the 100-yard breaststroke, 59.66 seconds, and 200-yard individual medley, 2:05.70, for her high school senior, final, year of scholastic swimming for Seward High School at the 2021 Alaska State Swim and Dive Championship in early November. Her time of 59.66 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke set a new Alaska state high school record in the event, marking the first time in the history of the state of Alaska that a female swimmer swum the 100-yard breaststroke in less than one minute at a high school state Championship competition, and her accomplishments at the Championship earned her the "Outstanding Female Swimmer" award. Jacoby edged out 2020 Olympian Jillian Crooks for the award, a swimmer from the Cayman Islands who moved to Alaska following the 2020 Summer Olympics to test out the American, and specifically Alaskan, competitive swimming scene. Following her state-title-winning performances, Arena announced via SwimSwam and Swimming World on November 19 that it had signed a professional sponsorship deal with Jacoby.

2021 World Short Course Championships

Not to have her progress halted by the awards season, Jacoby entered to compete in the 50-meter breaststroke and 100-meter breaststroke individual events at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates starting on December 16. The United States World Championships team announcement was number two for week of November 1, 2021, as part of Swimming Worlds "The Week That Was" honor. She trained at the Championships venue, Etihad Arena, with her teammates in the days leading up to the start competition.

Day one of competition, Jacoby ranked ninth in the prelims heats of the 50-meter breaststroke, qualifying for the semi-finals later in the day with her time of 30.16 seconds. In the semi-finals, she was the only swimmer from the United States to compete and ranked thirteenth with a time of 30.21 seconds, not qualifying for the final. In the final of the 4×50-meter medley relay on day two, she split a 29.62 for the breaststroke leg of the relay, helping achieve a 1:43.61 and win the silver medal with finals relay teammates Rhyan White, Claire Curzan, and Abbey Weitzeil. The following day, December 18, she and teammate Katie Grimes withdrew from the championships in regard to procedures put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2022–2024: Senior career beginnings Less than one week after turning 18 years old, Jacoby placed third in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2022 Pro Swim Series in Westmont, Illinois with a time of 1:06.87. In the 200-meter breaststroke, she placed third in the final with a 2:28.22. On the second day of the 2022 USA Swimming International Team Trials in Greensboro, North Carolina in late April, she ranked seventh in the prelims heats of the 200-meter breaststroke, swimming a 2:29.28 to qualify for the final. In the final, she placed fifth with a personal best time of 2:26.60. One day later, she advanced to the final of the 50-meter breaststroke ranking third with a time of 31.08 seconds. She swam a personal best time of 30.35 seconds in the final, placing third. The following day, she ranked fourth with a time of 1:07.58 in the prelims heats of the 100-meter breaststroke, qualifying for the evening final. She finished in 1:06.21 in the final, placing fourth. The following month, she swam a personal best time of 2:25.98 in the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2022 Mare Nostrum stop in Monaco, winning the gold medal and finishing less than half a second ahead of silver medalist in the event Sophie Hansson of Sweden. Two Mare Nostrum stops later, in Canet-en-Roussillon, France, she lowered her personal best time in the 50-meter breaststroke to 30.20 seconds, finishing five-hundredths of a second ahead of Lara van Niekerk of South Africa to win the gold medal.

Freshman collegiate season NAG progression (girls 17–18) Record Time Date 100 yd breaststroke 57.54 December 2, 2022 100 yd breaststroke 57.45 January 27, 2023 100 yd breaststroke 57.29 February 24, 2023 200 yd breaststroke 2:04.32 February 25, 2023

At the first dual meet of her collegiate career, a double dual meet against the Indiana Hoosiers and the Texas A&M Aggies on October 21 her first year (first year), Jacoby placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 59.93 seconds and third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:11.31 for her individual events to help her team, the Texas Longhorns, win both dual meets. Seven days later, in the morning preliminaries of the 200-meter breaststroke at the 2022 Swimming World Cup in Toronto, Canada, Jacoby qualified for the final ranking seventh with a personal best time of 2:24.23, which marked a drop of 0.76 seconds from her previous best time of 2:24.99. Approximately 40 minutes later, she swam a personal best time of 1:04.68 in the 100-meter individual medley and placed twenty-seventh. In the evening final of the 200-meter breaststroke, she dropped 1.87 seconds from her personal best time in the morning session, placing sixth with a time of 2:22.36. The following morning, she swam a personal best time of 1:04.70 in the preliminaries of the 100-meter breaststroke, lowering her former personal best time by 0.50 seconds and qualifying for the final ranking third. She further improved her personal best time in the final, placing fourth with a time of 1:04.62 that was 1.67 seconds slower than gold medalist and 2012 Olympic champion at 15 years of age in the 100-meter breaststroke Rūta Meilutytė of Lithuania.

Six days after the 2022 Swimming World Cup Toronto, Jacoby placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke in a dual meet against the Virginia Cavaliers with a time of 58.96 seconds, less than nine-tenths of a second behind two junior-year (third-year) swimmers, each of whom was 21 years of age (three years older than Jacoby). The following day, she achieved a win in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:09.19, which marked her first win in an individual event in her collegiate career and contributed to a win for her team over the University of Virginia. On December 1, at the 2022 Minnesota Invitational, she achieved a personal best time in the 200-yard individual medley with a mark of 2:05.37, which tied her for thirty-fifth in rank overall. The following day, she became the fastest female American swimmer in the 100-yard breaststroke in history for the 17–18 age group with a national age group record (NAG) time of 57.54 seconds, which earned her second-place by 0.06 seconds at the Invitational and marked her first sub-58 seconds time in the event. On the final day of the Invitational, December 3, she won the 200-yard breaststroke with a personal best time of 2:07.14. She followed up her national age group record of 57.54 seconds seven days later with her second-ever sub-58-second time in the 100-yard breaststroke at the 2022 Winter Junior National Championships, winning the event with a time of 57.76 seconds. The next, and final, evening, she won the 200-yard breaststroke with a personal best time of 2:06.81.

In her first competition of 2023, a double dual meet against Alabama Crimson Tide and Ohio State Buckeyes in January in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Jacoby won both of her individual events, finishing first with a time of 59.21 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke and a time of 2:11.14 in the 200-yard breaststroke. In her school's second-to-last dual meet for the season, against the NC State Wolfpack, she improved upon her national age group record for the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in a personal best time of 57.45 seconds to win the event. She followed up with a personal best time in the 200-yard breaststroke the next day, January 28, finishing first in 2:06.66. The final dual meet, held the following week against the SMU Mustangs, she helped contribute four points towards a dual meet-win for her school with a second-place finish in the 4×50-yard medley relay in 1:40.20, splitting a 26.56 for the breaststroke leg of the relay.

2023 Collegiate championships

For her first individual event of her freshman Big 12 Conference Championships, the 50-yard freestyle on the second day, Jacoby placed thirty-sixth with a personal best time of 24.34 seconds in the preliminaries. The next day, she lowered her national age group record in the 100-yard breaststroke final to a 57.29 and won her first conference title. The 57.29 was also a new Big 12 Conference and Championships record. At the 2023 NCAA Division I Championships the following month in Knoxville, Tennessee, she won the NCAA title in the 100-yard breaststroke on the third day of competition with a personal best time of 57.03 seconds. Later the same evening, she helped win the bronze medal in the 4×100-yard medley relay in 3:25.18, splitting a 56.78 for the breaststroke leg of the relay. The following day, she placed third in the consolation final, eleventh overall, in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:06.66. She also won the 50-meter breaststroke, finishing first in the final with a time of 30.29 seconds on the fourth and final day. On May 18, she won the gold medal in the 200-meter breaststroke at the second stop of the 2023 Mare Nostrum with a personal best time of 2:24.03.

2024 Jacoby competed at the United States Olympic trials held in Indianapolis and aimed to qualify for her second consecutive Olympics. She finished third in the 100-meter breaststroke behind Lilly King and Emma Weber, and missed her opportunity to make it onto the Olympic team and was not able to defend her title.

International championships (50 m)

International championships (25 m)

Personal best times Long course meters (50 m pool) Event Time Meet Location Date Age Note(s) Ref 50 m breaststroke

Canet-en-Roussillon, France May 29, 2022

Edition Gold medals Silver medals Bronze medals Total 2021 0 3 1 4 Total 0 3 1 4

National age group records Long course meters (50 m pool) No. Event Time Meet Location Date Age Age Group 1 100 m breaststroke 1:05.71 sf 2020 USA Olympic Trials Omaha, Nebraska June 14, 2021 17–18 Legend: sf – semifinal

Short course yards (25 yd pool) No. Event Time Meet Location Date Age Age Group 1 100 yd breaststroke

Minneapolis, Minnesota December 2, 2022

On June 26, 2021, and July 29, 2021, U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska honored Jacoby on the floor of the United States Senate as the "Alaskan of the Week" for her accomplishments in swimming leading up to and during the 2020 Summer Olympics. For the month of July 2021, Jacoby won the SwimSwam honor of "Ultra Swim Swimmer of the Month" for her individual gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2020 Olympic Games. In September 2021, Jacoby was one of 38 athletes to receive the honor of being a finalist for the 91st James E. Sullivan Award, which was designed to recognize the accomplishments of select athletes who competed representing the United States, be it at the club, college, or international level, during the 2021 year. She also received the Swimming World honor for "Female Newcomer of the Year" for her Olympic Games, Swimming World Cup, and World Short Course Championships performances. On January 5, 2022, Jacoby was announced as the recipient of the 2021 Swammy Award for "Female Breakout Swimmer of the Year". For the 2022 year, SwimSwam'' ranked Jacoby as the number 15 female swimmer in the world across all strokes. For her first year (2022–2023 season) of competition in NCAA Division I swimming for the Texas Longhorns, Jacoby received the Women's Newcomer of the Week award from the Big 12 Conference for the weeks of October 26, 2022, and January 18, 2023, as part of their weekly swimming and diving awards. In March 2023, Jacoby was named Newcomer of the Year in women's swimming for the 2022–2023 NCAA season by the Big 12 Conference.