Seward swimming phenom Lydia Jacoby fell short of an Olympic sequel Monday after failing to clinch a fast enough time in the 100-meter women’s breaststroke final event.
Jacoby, 20, placed third in the 100-meter breaststroke finals in Indianapolis. She swam a time of 1:06:37, in the same event she took home Olympic gold in 2021 with a time of 1:04:95. Jacoby qualified for Monday’s finals after placing fifth overall in qualifying heats held Sunday.
Jacoby said on her Instagram page Tuesday that she was withdrawing from the 200-meter breaststroke final, “in order to process and rejuvenate.” She wished her teammates well at this year’s Olympics.
According to Team USA, more than 1,000 American swimmers competed for a spot in the U.S. Olympic team trials.
Alaskans rallied around Jacoby when she swam in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, held 2021. At 17 and still a junior at Seward High School, Jacoby took home a silver medal for the women’s four by 100 meter medley relay in addition to her gold for the 100 meter breaststroke.
Jacoby is the first Alaskan to qualify for an Olympic games in swimming. She swims collegiately at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is majoring in textiles.
Two other athletes with Kenai Peninsula roots have Olympic ambitions this year.
Allie Ostrander, a graduate of Kenai Central High School, will compete for a spot on Team USA’s track and field team June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon. As reported by the Peninsula Clarion, Ostrander qualified for the Olympic trials in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in April.
USA Cycling announced last week that Kristen Faulkner, of Homer, will compete on the 2024 track cycling team. Faulkner, 32, also races with EF Pro Cycling. As reported by NBC, Faulkner went to Harvard University and quit her job as a venture capitalist in 2021 to do cycling full-time.
The 2024 Olympics kick off in Paris in July.
