Swimming-American teen Jacoby pulls off surprise win in 100m breaststroke

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TOKYO, Jul 27 (Reuters) – Lydia Jacoby would likely have watched the Tokyo Games as a spectator had the event not been postponed for a year, but on Tuesday the Alaskan teen dwarfed Olympic and world champions for gold in the Winning the women’s 100-meter breaststroke.

The 17-year-old prevailed against Tatjana Schoenmaker for gold with a time of 1: 04.95, the South African 0.27 behind. Jacoby’s teammate, Rio Olympic champion and world record holder Lilly King, was on the bronze medal in 1: 05.54.

Jacoby accelerated for the final 25 meters to overtake her two rivals who had been expected to fight for gold. After touching the wall, she looked stunned when she looked at the display board.

Jacoby, the first Alaskan native to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, said she planned to come to Tokyo with her family last year to see the Games before they were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic they had little chance of the team.

The extra year was a gift for her to mature in the sport, she said, adding that she remembered seeing King in Rio when she was 12 years old.

“It was amazing,” she said. “Having that extra year … being part of the world that comes together means a lot.”

Jacoby, whose parents are both boat captains and take visitors on whale watching tours in Alaska, began swimming at the age of six and initially took lessons as a child as her family spent a lot of time on the water.

She will finish her senior year of high school before going to the University of Texas at Austin.

Defending champions King and Schoenmaker, both 24, joked at their press conference that Jacoby made them feel “that old”.

“Today wasn’t my day to win, it was Lydia’s day to win,” said King.

“She had the swim of her life today so we should celebrate this.”

Two Russian swimmers hit the wall after King, with 16-year-old Evgeniia Chikunova fourth and Yuliya Efimova, a six-time world champion, fifth.

Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong; Editing by Peter Rutherford

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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