[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 110 (Thursday, June 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4753-S4754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO LYDIA JACOBY

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, it is Thursday, and it is my favorite 
time

[[Page S4754]]

of the week. I get to come down to the Senate floor typically every 
Thursday and talk about Alaskans who are doing something amazing for 
their communities, their State, maybe even their country. Heck, this 
one is kind of doing something for the world, whom I refer to as the 
Alaskan of the Week. I love doing it.
  We have a really special Alaskan of the Week this week whom I am 
going to talk about, Lydia Jacoby--a very special 17-year-old who is 
from Seward, AK. We are so excited about this.
  Those of you who have been following our Alaskan of the Week speeches 
might notice that this is the first new poster board we have had ever. 
So this is the poster board of the Alaskan of the Week for Lydia 
because we are so excited about her.
  Before I talk about Lydia, I always like to say a little bit about 
what is going on in Alaska.
  A lot of people always ask about the light. They are curious about 
the light in the summer, particularly as we just had our summer 
solstice. If you want to come up and really see it, come on up. We are 
open. We would love to have you--a trip of a lifetime. If you are 
thinking about coming to Alaska, come to see it yourself this summer. 
Every American should come on up, but I will give you a hint. On the 
light that is happening right now, if you were in Seward, AK, where 
Lydia is from, the Sun will rise at 4:33 a.m. and set at 11:26 p.m., 
with a loss of just 36 seconds from the summer solstice, which occurred 
a few days ago. That is a lot of sunlight, and it doesn't really even 
get dark when the Sun goes down. It does just for a little bit.
  So it is a great time to be in the State. Come on up. It is a great 
time to be in Alaska, and I can't wait to get home for the recess, our 
Fourth of July--lots of Sun, lots of excitement.
  There is particularly a lot of excitement around this young, intrepid 
Alaskan, Lydia, who on Tuesday, in Omaha, NE, swam the second fastest 
time in the world in the women's 100-meter breaststroke finals in the 
Olympic trials. She is the second fastest breaststroker in the world, 
and she is only 17. This cinched her spot to represent the United 
States in the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. This is an incredible and--I 
will admit it--a rather unlikely story that we are all so proud of in 
Alaska.
  With regard to the Olympics, Alaskans typically punch way above our 
weight. In the Winter Olympics, we really, really punch above our 
weight, with many, many Alaskans making the Olympic team for the Winter 
Olympics every 4 years. We have done well in the Summer Olympics as 
well. Olympic veteran, rugby player Alev Kelter, from Eagle River, will 
be competing this year. Shortly, will we will be learning if Allie 
Ostrander, who is a really amazing young woman, steeplechase champion 
and another incredible athlete, will be in the Olympics this year. We 
will learn soon. But we have never sent a swimmer to the Olympics. You 
don't always equate Alaska and swimming. She will be the first, and 
Alaskans across the State are cheering on Lydia. So let me tell you a 
little bit about this remarkable young woman.
  Her parents, Leslie and Richard, are both boat camp captains. Leslie 
is the educational coordinator for the Marine Science Explorer Program 
at the Kenai Fjords Tours. Rich is a maritime instructor at the Alaska 
Vocational Technical Center, what we call AVTEC.
  By the way, a little aside: AVTEC does great work. I have really 
enjoyed my visits there.
  So, Rich, keep up the great job there.
  He is also a guy for Arctic and Antarctic trips.
  So that is Mom and Dad. They moved to Alaska when Lydia was 9 years 
old. Richard came to the State in 1992 when he was fresh out of 
college, and like so many, they fell in love with the State and stayed. 
They raised their daughter, as I mentioned, in the town of Seward, AK. 
There are a little under 3,000 people there, and it is just an hour 
south of Anchorage. It is nestled between Resurrection Bay and soaring 
mountains. Its motto is ``Alaska starts here.''
  I love Seward, AK. I get there as much as I can. I am going to be 
there in a couple of weeks, actually. It is known for stunning 
landscapes, a strong, generous community, and amazing people. So if you 
are visiting Alaska, you have to go to Seward.
  Leslie and Richard signed Lydia up for swim classes when she was just 
a toddler. She joined the swim club when she was 6 years old. When she 
was 10, she was selected for the Alaska Swim Zone Team. State 
qualifying meets allowed her to go on trips. In between all of this, 
she was a musician, learning to play the guitar. She played at folk 
festivals. She was also in theater and in track--an all-around great 
athlete and an all-around great young woman.
  As she excelled at swimming, her parents continued to be, in their 
words, ``surprised and amazed.'' Obviously, she has a deeply 
competitive streak, but you would not know it when you meet her. Her 
parents were surprised. ``In the right setting, that streak can really 
be turned on,'' Rich said. When she has a lousy race, she just shrugs 
it off. Her dad remembered one of her first swim meets when, halfway 
across the pool, she inhaled some water. She jumped out and didn't want 
to get back in. Well, she is back in. As her dad said, she has come a 
long way.
  One of her coaches, Solomon D'Amico, describes her as ``kind, quiet, 
confident.'' He says she has an ``intense fire,'' and when she sets her 
mind to something, like the Olympics, she goes for it.
  Now, neither of her parents pushed her too hard--they wanted the 
drive to come from her, not them--but it certainly did come from her.
  Solomon, her coach, is a former marine and athlete. Alaska is full of 
intense runs--marathons, ultra-marathons--but one of the most 
challenging is in Seward, AK. It is called the annual Mount Marathon 
Race, the Fourth of July, in Seward, a grueling 1.5-mile climb almost 
straight up and straight back down Mount Marathon. He has run this 24 
years in a row. That is tough--Solomon, her coach.
  Solomon really didn't know much about swimming when he started 
coaching the small Seward swim team. In fact, Seward, AK, doesn't even 
have an Olympic-size swimming pool, but they all worked hard. He 
encouraged them to be the best that they could be--to enjoy life but to 
also lift weights. Strength, Solomon said, is needed to excel in 
swimming, particularly at the breaststroke.
  Lydia took to the weight rooms. She swims between 5 to 7 days a week, 
1-hour to 90-minute sessions. She lifts weights about 3 hours a week. 
And as Solomon has said, ``You want . . . athletes to be more process 
than outcome driven.''
  Lydia fell in love with all the hard work. No one was ever going to 
give her a hard time if she missed a practice or a session, but every 
single opportunity she had to swim, she would be there.
  Well, on Sunday, Lydia will head to Hawaii to train with Team USA. 
Then, a few weeks later, she will head to Tokyo.
  Now, because of COVID restrictions, unfortunately, her parents won't 
be there to watch in person. Her father said: ``It's a [bit of a] weird 
thing to send your kid across the world. But she's an experienced 
traveler and there are great people involved with USA swimming.''
  ``We are over the moon proud of her,'' her dad said.
  So are we. We are so proud of you, Lydia. You are a role model for so 
many aspiring swimmers, not just across Alaska but across the country. 
So thank you for representing Alaska and our Nation so well.
  Good luck in the Olympics. Congratulations on your success and 
congratulations on being our Alaskan of the Week.

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