A banner supporting Olympic swimmer Lydia Jacoby hangs outside of First National Bank Alaska in her hometown of Seward on Saturday, July 24, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

A banner supporting Olympic swimmer Lydia Jacoby hangs outside of First National Bank Alaska in her hometown of Seward on Saturday, July 24, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Tangled Up In Blue: Go Lydia!

All of Seward was watching with tempered excitement the night of her gold medal swim.

By Kat Sorensen

For the Peninsula Clarion

I had a silly thought yesterday while I was doing a track workout at Seward High School.

“If I keep this up, maybe I’ll get Olympic-level fast.”

I was exhausted after just one or two sprints, definitely should have warmed up more, and had to stop to google “how many track laps makes a mile,” but as I was cooling down I caught myself being unrealistically optimistic.

No, I don’t actually think my early 30s is when I’m going to start making strides in track and field, fast tracking to the 2024 Olympics. I can’t help but daydream, though. There’s something in the air.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Seward is riddled with signs, posters and more celebrating the Queen in the North, Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby. The 17-year-old swimmer from Seward and of the Seward Tsunami Swim Club shattered expectations when she pushed hard and won the gold medal in the breaststroke in the Tokyo Olympics.

All of Seward was watching with tempered excitement the night of her gold medal swim. When she touched the wall ahead of all the other competitors, our small city erupted! And the celebration has been going since. It’s hard not to get wrapped up in Olympic fever, her win means so much.

As Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post wrote in his column on Lydia:

“There are moments at an Olympics that change a life. There are moments at an Olympics that redefine a town. And there are moments at an Olympics that make you say: ‘That’s why I watch. That’s why I came. That’s what it’s about.’ Lydia Jacoby, daughter of Seward, Alaska, provided just that Tuesday morning, the swim of her life, which means a lot, even if her life has lasted just more than 17 years. Lilly King is the queen of the 100-meter breaststroke, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder. And Jacoby — more accustomed to performing in front of audiences at bluegrass festivals around Alaska than as an athlete on international television — simply stalked her, caught her, passed her and beat her.”

We don’t have an Olympic-sized pool in town, and there aren’t top-of-the-line training facilities. She just had access to a lot of supportive people, the drive, the determination and the skill.

On a good day, I have one or two of those things. But, now alongside Seward, Alaska, and the entire United States, I have a little bit of extra inspiration to push a little bit extra harder thanks to Lydia.

More in Sports

Mike Lundgren of Homer, playing for the Kenai River Wolfpack, snatches the ball from Austin Hinton of the Bird Creek Barbarians at the Kenai Dipnet Fest Rugby 10s Tournament at Kenai's Millennium Square on Saturday, July 19, 2025. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Dipnest Fest: Alaska Rugby Union Hall of Fame event with a Hall of Fame organizer

The Kenai Dipnet Fest Rugby 10s Tournament has been held at Kenai’s… Continue reading

Nick Varney
Reeling ‘Em In: Watching the fish roll in

The incoming tide was headed our way so we could restart our game of “Spot the violations” as the silvers rolled in.

Martin Flora leads Jerry Parsons on the way to winning the Modified Dirty 30 on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at Twin City Raceway in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Flora wins Modified Dirty 30 at Twin City Raceway

Martin Flora of Fairbanks won the Modified Dirty 30 on Saturday, July… Continue reading

tease
Janssen, Fallon win 1st 2 weeks of Salmon Run Series

The Salmon Run Series at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna drew… Continue reading

tease
Results posted for Races 1 and 2 at Soldotna Cycle Series

The Soldotna Cycle Series held its first two races of the season… Continue reading

tease
Twins sweep road trip, win 14th straight game

Editor’s note: The story corrects the length of the Twins winning streak.… Continue reading

Daniel Steffensen bats against the Post 35 Road Warriors on Saturday at Coral Seymour Memorial Park as part of the 100th anniversary of American Legion Baseball in Alaska. (Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
100 years of Legion baseball in Alaska celebrated Saturday

Twins defeated the Post 35 Road Warriors

Zac Cowan putts a golf ball into a hole during the Alaska Sign Source Pro Am at Birch Ridge Golf Course in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, July 14, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Azzara, Moore win Birch Ridge Pro Am

The top four pros were rounded out by Zac Cowan with 78 and Bill Engberg at 84.

tease
1st Soldotna Cycle Series of the year draws 49

The first Soldotna Cycle Series race took place Thursday, July 10, at… Continue reading

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in