Lydia Jacoby Wins Two Titles, Goes 59.66 in 100 Breast at Alaskan State Champs
Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby added hardware of a slightly different type to her collection last weekend, winning a pair of championships at the Alaskan School Activities Association swimming and diving championships.
Swimming for Seward High, Jacoby won the girls 200-yard individual medley in 2:05.70. She unsurprisingly also won the 100 breaststroke, in a time of 59.66. It downed the state record she set as a sophomore in 2019 at 1:00.61.
“It felt good and I’m excited,” Jacoby told the Anchorage Daily News. “Not quite my best time, but it felt good to finish high school strong and under a minute.”
That time is in the top 10 all-time, by the NFHS record book, for high school swimmers. It’s just behind the time of 59.63 posted by one Lilly King when she was in high school in 2015. Jacoby and King were in the same Olympic final in the women’s 100 breast in Tokyo over the summer, Jacoby pulling a surprise to grab the gold medal and King getting bronze.
Jacoby has been faster outside of high school competition, clocking in at 58.87 at the OPA Alaska Junior Olympics in June.
“It’s crazy to think that I am done with high school swimming, but it’s been great,” Jacoby said. Seward finished ninth in the girls team standings.
Jacoby, the first Alaskan to swim for the United States at the Olympics, will attend the University of Texas next year. She has improved rapidly over the last year, cashing in that explosion onto first the national then international scene into a gold medal.
But she wasn’t the only Olympian at the ASAA championships. Jillian Crooks swam for the Cayman Islands at the Tokyo Olympics. The 15-year-old ended up at Homer High School this year, where a family friend is the coach. Crooks won the 200 free (1:49.85) and 100 free (50.70) in lopsided races.