When you're a swimmer from Alaska, determination are immoderate misguided stereotypes that indispensable beryllium laughed off.
Lydia Jacoby has surely heard them each before.
"She practically swims successful iced-over lakes," teammate Gunnar Bentz said.
Uhh, no.
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Jacoby does her swimming astatine a pool, though adjacent that has been a spot of a situation during the coronavirus era.
No matter.
She's an Olympic champion.
Jacoby, a 17-year-old who hails from tiny municipality of Seward, Alaska (population: 2,773), pulled disconnected a stunning upset successful the 100m breaststroke Tuesday, knocking disconnected defending champion and chap American Lilly King.
Jacoby had already distinguished herself arsenic the archetypal swimmer from the 49th authorities to marque the U.S. Olympic swimming team.
She capped her singular travel with the biggest prize of each — earlier she adjacent starts her elder twelvemonth of precocious school.
"A batch of big-name swimmers travel from big, powerhouse clubs," Jacoby said. "Me coming from a tiny club, successful a authorities with specified a tiny population, truly shows everyone that you tin bash it nary substance wherever you're from."
Other athletes chimed successful connected Jacoby's accomplishment.
"Thinking this is wherefore we ticker sports," two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson tweeted. "To spot a 17-year-old from Alaska instrumentality the gold. Amazing stuff!!"
Jacoby grew up astir the water.
Her parents are some vessel captains, taking tourists connected whale-watching tours disconnected the stunning Alaskan coast. The household besides has a sailboat, truthful their girl joined a section aquatics squad astatine property 6.
"They conscionable wanted maine to beryllium harmless successful the water," she said.
Before long, she was swimming faster that everyone other her age.
"When I was astir 12, I broke my archetypal authorities record," Jacoby recalled. "That was benignant of erstwhile I realised it was thing that I excelled at."
Not that she's a one-hit wonder.
Jacoby besides plays respective philharmonic instruments and sang successful a bluegrass group, the Snow River String Band.
"In my municipality we utilized to person a bluegrass campy for kids each summer," she said. "We yet formed a set and played unneurotic 5 oregon six years astatine antithetic festivals successful Alaska."
Jacoby is 1 of those who benefited from the Olympics being pushed backmost a twelvemonth due to the fact that of the coronavirus pandemic, though it didn't ever look that way. Her section excavation closed arsenic COVID-19 dispersed astir the world, forcing her bid astatine a excavation astir 2 1/2 hours distant successful the state's biggest city, Anchorage.
She had qualified to aquatics astatine the U.S. Olympic trials successful 2020, though she didn't person overmuch changeable of making the team.
In fact, her household had already made plans to sojourn Tokyo arsenic spectators, readying to soak up the ambiance and springiness Jacoby an thought of what she'd beryllium chasing successful 2024.
Of course, the pandemic changed everything. Jacoby kept grooming and knocking disconnected clip astatine a dizzying rate, greatly improving her chances by the clip the trials were yet held past month. She qualified successful the 100 breast, claiming the 2nd spot connected the squad down King.
"I decidedly knew she was a menace and saw a batch of myself successful her," King said.
Jacoby believed she had a changeable astatine a medal successful Tokyo, but she ne'er thought it would beryllium gold. King was inactive considered the swimmer to beat, and South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker posted the fastest qualifying clip successful the semifinals.
Schoenmaker jumped up connected the archetypal travel down the pool, with King successful frenzied pursuit. Jacoby was 3rd arsenic they made the turn, but the teen — her caput bobbing furiously successful the h2o — zipped past King and glided to the partition conscionable up of the South African.
"I conscionable wanted to assistance her retired arsenic overmuch arsenic I could, and unfortunately, I helped her retired a small excessively much," King joked.
Back successful Alaska, wherever Jacoby's friends and household were holding a ticker enactment successful the precocious afternoon, the spot went nuts erstwhile the "1" popped up beside her name.
Jacoby whipped astir to cheque retired the scoreboard, looking a spot stunned astatine what she saw. It didn't truly look to descend successful until Schoenmaker reached crossed the lane enactment to springiness her a hug.
King rapidly joined them, bounding implicit 2 lanes to congratulate her young protégé.
"I was decidedly racing for a medal. I knew I had it successful me," Jacoby said. "I wasn't truly expecting a golden medal, truthful erstwhile I looked up and saw the scoreboard, it was insane."
After being location schooled past twelvemonth during the pandemic, Jacoby volition instrumentality to Seward High School this autumn for her elder year. After that, she caput to the Lower 48 to be the University of Texas, wherever she'll acceptable close successful connected the Longhorns' powerhouse program.
She'll ne'er hide her Alaskan roots, though.
"I person been representing my authorities for a agelong time, since I was truly little," Jacoby said. "It conscionable means a batch to person them continuing to backmost me."
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