Disappointed by Trials Shortfall, Lydia Jacoby Vows ‘You’ll See Me Again’

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Disappointed by Trials Shortfall, Lydia Jacoby Vows ‘You’ll See Me Again’

Lydia Jacoby had just about 18 hours to process her swim from Monday night. The first emotion she settled on was disappointment, above all, at her swim in the 100 breaststroke at U.S. Olympic Trials falling short of her own expectations.

The reigning Olympic gold medalist won’t get a chance to extend her dominion in Paris, after finishing third in the final at Lucas Oil Stadium. The most acute disappointment stemmed from behind a second slower than she was three years ago at Trials.

“It’s just frustrating.” Jacoby told media Tuesday afternoon. “That time is over a second slower than I swam at last Trials. I’ve been training well. I’ve literally gone that time in practice the last couple of weeks a couple of times. I’m just a little frustrated with myself not being able to hit that extra gear.

“I don’t feel like I put up a swim that was a representation of what I could do, which is the most frustrating part to me. But I’ll be back and be better.”

Jacoby went 1:06.37 in the final. That was short of the 1:05.43 used by Lilly King to win the event and get to her third Olympics, and the 1:06.10 turned in by Emma Weber to earn her first Olympics berth.

Jacoby, a native of Alaska and rising junior at the University of Texas, went 1:05.28 at Trials in 2021. She won gold in 1:04.95 in Tokyo.

The disappointment of not being able to go to Paris as an Olympian took a backseat to the intrinsic struggle of being her best in the water.

“I feel weirdly fine,” she said. “I think it hasn’t quite hit me yet. I definitely had a little cry last night, but I’m doing pretty well today. I’m sure there will be a lot of time to process things in the next couple of weeks and try to line up some fun things to look forward to this summer.”

Jacoby announced prior to meeting with media that she would scratch the 200 breast, ending her Trials. That was always the plan, with the 100 her stronger event. She entered it just to enter and didn’t plan on swimming it, even before the result of the 100.

Jacoby said she’ll take a step back from swimming for the summer. She’s unsure if she’ll watch her race in Paris, but she wished King and Weber well.

Jacoby has been open in the past about her post-Olympic depression after Tokyo. As she wrote in the Instagram post announcing the scratch, she’s not one to be defined by a time or a place. She’s also worked hard to find the balance that many athletes struggle with, of being a person who swims as opposed to someone defined solely as a swimmer.

“I think a lot of people outside of the sport see this and think, this is their everything,” she said. “I think it’s important for people to realize, yes this is something I do, something I’m very invested in and obviously I’ve put a lot of emotion into this. It is pretty devastating. But at the end of the road, it’s not going to change my life.”

Texas will play a role in this. The 2023 NCAA champion in the 100 breast found a community of swimmers in Austin that she’s grown close with, and she’ll lean on those relationships to get her through this rough patch.

But she’s just as adamant that there’s more out there for her as a swimmer as she is in the notion that there’s more out there than just swimming for her as a person.

“I’m definitely looking forward to showing people what I can actually do,” she said. “I definitely feel like I have more to give to the sport and the sport has more to give to me. I’m going to take a little step back this summer and rejuvenate a bit and then you’ll see me again.”

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