Olympic Gold Medalist Lydia Jacoby Also Plays Bluegrass
Well this is super cool. American Olympic swimmer Lydia Jacoby from Alaska has been a fan favorite over the last week or so, surprisingly taking home the Gold Medal for the United States in the 100 meter Breaststroke on July 27th, making the 17-year-old the first ever Alaskan to win a Gold Medal in the summer games, and only the 10th Alaskan to ever compete. She’s also one of the youngest swimmers ever to win Gold. She also helped win Silver in the 4×100 medley relay.
Lydia Jacoby later made headlines during the 4×100 mixed relay when she dove into the pool for the breaststroke portion of the race, and had to fight through her goggles slipping down from her eyes, and right to in front of her mouth and face. She could have given up entirely or stopped to fix them, but instead soldiered on and still turned in a decent relay time. The U.S.A. team ended up finishing 5th in the race.
But that’s not all that’s remarkable about this Alaskan wunderkind. She’s also been playing the bass fiddle and singing for the last six years in a bluegrass outfit in Anchorage called the Snow River String Band who’ve performed at the Anchorage Folk Festival and other places in Alaska. Lydia Jacoby also plays guitar.
“In my town [of Seward], we used to have a bluegrass camp for kids every summer,” Jacoby explained in an Olympic press conference after winning Gold. “There’s a group of us that really enjoyed it, so our parents kind of brought us together. We played together for five or six years at different festivals in Alaska.”
Since the revelation, folks have been looking up Lydia Jacoby and the Snow River String Band videos online. It’s no Billy Strings, but it’s not half bad for a young woman who’s spent hours and hours in the pool training for the Olympics for years.
The Snow River String Band is officially no more now that the respective members have upcoming college commitments, and of course Lydia Jacoby is in Tokyo at the moment. But one interesting note is that Jacoby has committed to attending the University of Texas in Austin starting in the Fall of 2022 to compete on the University’s swim team, and is also interested in studying fashion design. With the robust (though under siege) music scene in Austin, don’t be surprised if she continues to pursue her musical passion in the coming years as well.
“I still enjoy playing music,” she says. “It’s a great thing to do.”
So who knows, perhaps in the future Olympic Gold Medalist Lydia Jacoby may be appearing at a bluegrass festival near you. She’s a great example of how music and bluegrass specifically is a great way to build character and discipline in young people in ways that can help them beyond plucking on wood and wire.
August 1, 2021 @ 9:10 am
This is great! Where can I get some recording for my radio show?
August 1, 2021 @ 9:22 am
I don’t think they did any studio recordings, at least not ones I’ve been able to find.
August 1, 2021 @ 9:39 am
That’s really cool. Thanks for digging this up.
August 1, 2021 @ 10:42 am
I appreciate people who appreciate blue grass, especially when they’re kick ass swimmers
August 1, 2021 @ 1:33 pm
Swim faster, I hear banjos
August 1, 2021 @ 3:02 pm
Fantastic.
August 1, 2021 @ 4:29 pm
Well after the Olympics are over looks like she will have something to fall back on. She sounds great and I wish her all the luck in the world.
August 1, 2021 @ 6:15 pm
I read this on WhiskeyRiff a few days ago. Really a great story. A swimmer from Alaska! And bluegrass performer. Can’t make this stuff up. Good to see it posted here. Bluegrass is not lacking young talent.
August 2, 2021 @ 6:15 pm
Music is a great way to build character and discipline… interesting observation. I know a few talented musicians who nonetheless definitely lack discipline. Perhaps it’s just true for bluegrass and classical music, which require adherence to tradition more than prog rock or whatever. Regardless, very admirable young lady and I hope she continues to play music.
August 2, 2021 @ 7:52 pm
For kids and young adults, I definitely think string instruments are a good way to teach discipline, problem solving, confidence, and character, and it’s also shown in certain studies to positively affect competency scores and such. Sure, there’s a lot of adult musicians with screws loose. In fact sometimes I wonder if that’s a requisite for being good. But for kids I think it’s a good way to instill valuable skills they can utilize in other parts of life.
August 2, 2021 @ 7:36 pm
Gold medal, not metal. (Let’s get that right first.) Lydia’s is a well-balanced life! It’s always good to hear it when top performing athletes are also accomplished in music and the arts.