Teenage dream

Alaska's Jacoby, 17, stuns with gold to save the day for Americans

TOKYO — Alaska, of all places, has an Olympic champion at the pool.

Seventeen-year-old Lydia Jacoby gave the United States a victory in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, knocking off teammate and defending champion Lilly King on Tuesday.

Jacoby was the first swimmer from the Arctic state ever to make the U.S. Olympic swimming team.

Now, she’s heading back to giddy Seward, Alaska — population: 2,773 — with a gold medal, rallying to win in 1 minute, 4.95 seconds..

Jacoby was only third at the turn, trailing South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker and King. But, with her head bobbing furiously out of the water, the teenager surged past King and glided past the South African on the final two strokes to touch first.

Looking at the scoreboard with a bit of disbelief, the enormity of her accomplishment finally hit when Schoenmaker reached across the lane rope for a hug. Then it was King bounding over from two lanes away to congratulate America’s new breaststroke queen.

“I was definitely racing for a medal. I knew I had it in me,” Jacoby said. “I wasn’t really expecting a gold medal, so when I looked up and saw the scoreboard it was insane.”

Her teammate King, who rose to fame with her swimming prowess and outspoken views on doping in sports, was content with the bronze.

“I’m so excited for Lydia,” King said. “I love to see the future of American breaststroke coming up like this and to have somebody to go at it head to head in the country. I definitely knew she was a threat and saw a lot of myself in her effort.”

Schoenmaker claimed the silver in 1:05.22, while King gave the Americans another medal by taking the bronze in 1:05.54.

Jacoby’s stunning win salvaged what had been a disappointing morning for the American team. The U.S. had only managed a pair of bronze medals before the high schooler came through.

On the men’s side, the U.S. team lost a backstroke race at the Olympics for the first time since 1992.

Russia swept the top two spots in the 100-meter back Tuesday, with Evgeny Rylov claiming the gold medal in 51.98 and teammate Kliment Kolesnikov taking the silver in 52.00.

Defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy settled for the bronze in 52.19.

It was the first backstroke defeat for the U.S. men at the Olympics since the Barcelona Games. They won 12 straight golds at the last six Olympics, including Murphy’s sweep of the 100 and 200 back at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“Winning an Olympic gold medal means you’re the best in the world,” Murphy said. “Being third in the world is no slouch.”

Along with the Russia, it was good morning for Australia and Britain.

World record-holder Kaylee McKeown gave the Aussie women another gold medal with a victory in the women’s 100 backstroke, setting an Olympic record.

Her winning time of 57.47 was just off the world mark she set this year of 57.45. The silver went to Canada’s Kylie Masse in 57.72, while former world record-holder Regan Smith of the United States grabbed the bronze at 58.05.

Coming into these Olympics, Australia had not won an individual women’s title since 2008. They’ve already got two in Tokyo, with McKeown’s gold coming after Ariarne Titmus’ victory Monday in the 400 freestyle.

Britain went 1-2 in the men’s 200 freestyle. Tom Dean captured the gold in 1 minute, 44.22 seconds, while teammate Duncan Scott picked up the silver in 1:44.26. The bronze went to Brazil’s Fernando Scheffer at 1:44.66.

Dean’s victory was even more remarkable considering he has twice been stricken with COVID-19 during the buildup to the games.