Swimmer Lydia Jacoby ‘shocked’ herself with gold medal in Tokyo

(NEXSTAR) – The defending gold medalist in the 100m breaststroke shocked the world when she won at the Tokyo games. Now Lydia Jacoby will look for a repeat in Paris.

“Shocked myself,” Jacoby recounted about the triumphant Tokyo final. But this year will be different. “I don’t think there’s much that I could do that would shock me.”

After winning gold at just 17 years old, Jacoby swam at the University of Texas and decided to compete throughout her sophomore year instead of training separately for the Olympics.

Lydia explained that she “just wanted to help out with points and capabilities and, just have some fun with the team and be there to feed off the energy and kind of feed into that energy, too.”

Jacoby has been open about struggles with anxiety and depression, but she said that therapy and self-care has helped her continue to achieve.

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