"Lydia Jacoby"

Thunder Mountain High School’s PJ Foy will compete in the 100-meter butterfly in June.

Jacoby shared stories of her rise to the top with some of Sitka’s youngest swimmers in a one-hour pool session on Friday, Jan. 28.

It was the first in-person address Dunleavy gave to a joint session since before the pandemic led to changes in safety rules in the Capitol. And at nearly an hour, it was his longest State of the State.

Jacoby’s deal with Arena wouldn’t have been possible a few months ago because of a previous NCAA rule that prohibited college athletes from making money off of their image.

Jacoby won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke in the Summer Olympics this year, though that was in a 50-meter pool. World Cup races are in 25-meter pools.

Lydia Jacoby is headed back to 12th grade and another year of swimming for Seward High School.

Jacoby’s father says he knew his daughter had the training to be able to win, and her mind was in the right place.

Megan O’Leary, who coached Jacoby in Seward, said Jacoby had her eyes on the gold before she jumped in the pool. “She texted me before her race and she said, ‘I want it,'” she said. “And I was like, ‘Then you got it.’”

Jacoby beat Olympic record holder Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa and her teammate Lilly King, who won the event at the 2016 Olympics. 

Jacoby will compete in the women’s final on Tuesday in Tokyo — that’s Monday at 6:17 p.m. Alaska time.