Seward’s own Lydia Jacoby advances to Olympic semifinals

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Seward’s own Lydia Jacoby is heading to the Olympic semifinals.

Jacoby finished second in her heat in the preliminaries of the women’s 100-meter breaststroke Sunday at the Tokyo Olympics. Her time was 1 minute, 5.52 seconds.

Jacoby had a strong performance in the preliminary race and edged the event’s defending gold medalist Lilly King by .03 seconds

Finishing first in the heat was South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker, who set an Olympic record with a time of 1 minute, 4.82 seconds.

Related: How to watch Alaska athletes at the Olympics

Jacoby qualified for the Olympic trials back in November 2020.

Jacoby is the first Alaskan ever to make the U.S. Olympic swimming team and currently holds the world’s second-fastest time in the 100-meter women’s breaststroke.

Jacoby will be back in the pool Sunday for the semifinal races which are expected to take place around 5:30 p.m. AKST.

This is a developing story. Check back for details.

Copyright 2021 KTUU. All rights reserved.