The last final of Monday’s swimming at the Tokyo Olympics came with an upset. In the women’s 100-meter breaststroke finals, 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby won the gold medal in in 1:04.95, beating Olympic-record holder Tatjana Schoenmaker of South Africa and world-record holder Lilly King of the U.S.
“I definitely stressed myself out yesterday, so I was trying to feel good and happy going into that,” said Jacoby, a high school senior from Seward, Alaska, who will attend the University of Texas in the fall of 2022.
King was attempting to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the 100 breaststroke, but was beaten by her teammate. Schoenmaker finished in 1:05.22 to King’s 1:05.54.
“We love to keep that gold in the USA family, so this kid just had the swim of her life and I am so proud to be her teammate and proud to get bronze for my country,” King said.
The women’s 200 freestyle is setting up to be another showdown between Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus. The two had one of the most thrilling races of the Olympics in the 400 freestyle Sunday, and the rematch is coming.
Ledecky (1:55.34) and Titmus (1:54.82) each won their heat in the 200 semifinals, with the final set for Tuesday at 9:41 p.m. ET (Wednesday morning in Tokyo). In Ledecky’s first Olympic title defense, Titmus beat her in the 400 on Sunday.
A little more than an hour after the 200 free final, Ledecky will swim in the 1500-meter freestyle final. She set an Olympic record in her 1500 free heat Monday morning (15:35.35).
Great Britain finished 1-2 in the men’s 200 freestyle, with Tom Dean winning gold in 1:44.22 and Duncan Scott taking silver in 1:44.26. Dean’s win was the first gold in the event for Great Britain since 1908.
Nineteen-year-old American Regan Smith won bronze in the final of the women’s 100 backstroke. Australia’s Kaylee McKeown won gold and Canada’s Kylie Masse placed second to take silver. McKeown set an Olympic record in the final (57.47).
The U.S.’s streak of six consecutive gold medals in the men’s 100 backstroke came to an end, as Ryan Murphy placed third behind a pair of Russian Olympic Committee swimmers in Evgeny Rylov and Kliment Kolesnikov.
