Lydia Jacoby, of Seward, earned a unanimous selection as the 2021 Pride of Alaska Award winner presented by the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame Board of Directors, the only unanimous selection in the history of the award.
The 17-year-old from Seward has qualified for the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming & Diving Trials this June in Nebraska based on a second-place finish in the 100M Breaststroke at the TYR Pro Swim Series in Mission Viejo, California. Jacoby holds the second-fastest time in the 100M Breaststroke in the 15-16 age catagory and a top-14 all-time in the 17-18 age catagory.
The Pride of Alaska Award For Consistent Excellence in Athletic Competition – For an athlete or athletes, team or coach who not only excelled in sports in the past year or recent years, but did so with integrity and sportsmanship so as to be a positive role model for others. Categories include Male and Female in both Adult and Youth. Youth recipients must be high school-aged or younger at time of selection.
The Pride of Alaska award was extended to include youth catagories in 2018. Past youth winners from the Kenai Peninsula include Jersey Truesdell from Soldotna High School (2019).
