At Texas, Alaskan Olympic swimming champion Lydia Jacoby will be a big fish in a big pond

In her hometown of Seward, Alaska, Lydia Jacoby swims in a 25-meter community pool.

“It’s worked perfectly for me,” Jacoby told the American-Statesman.

So perfectly, the future Texas Longhorn became a two-time Olympic medalist at the age of 17, an accomplishment she celebrated with an Instagram post with a quote from the 2015 Rhianna hit "American Oxygen."

A slew of brand deals followed along with more than 80,000 Instagram followers. In July, she'll be celebrated again with the release of her official bobblehead, a partnership that she justified simply: "Why not?"

“(My family) all thought it was hilarious,” Jacoby said. “I don’t think we’ve ordered any yet. We probably should.”

From 2021: Texas commit Lydia Jacoby wins Olympic gold medal

Jacoby, now 18, also has put her newfound attention back into her Seward community, where she has started hosting clinics for young swimmers. She admits it was a "crazy idea" to her at first, but now, recognizing her influence, she said the workshops have become a small way to give back to her home of about 2,800.

“Alaska swimming is a very close community,” Jacoby said. “Just because our population is so small, we don’t really have a super high-powered swim program typically. So it’s been really fun to see how much support I’ve gotten from the Alaska swim community as a whole and the community of Seward.”

These are some of the last memories Jacoby will make from Seward, her hometown whose residents went viral with their celebrations after Jacoby's gold in last year's Summer Olympics in the 100-meter breaststroke. They threw the first Alaskan to make a U.S. Olympic swimming team a parade last summer after her return from Tokyo, as she boarded a Kenai Fjords tour boat and addressed a crowd of hundreds at the Fisherman's Memorial.

But Jacoby, who has been committed to swim for Texas since November 2020, also knows she's ready to move on.

“Since getting back from the Olympics that summer, everything happened so fast,” Jacoby said. “It was super life changing. So to come back to Seward, as much as I love it, it feels funny because I've already been through that big chapter of my life. So I'm definitely ready for some big change and to have a really strong, competitive team to train with.

As a Longhorn, Jacoby will get the chance to train with fellow Olympians, be developed by top coaches and practice and compete in impressive facilities. Texas just finished second overall at the NCAA swimming and diving championships last month, the program's best finish since 1994. The Longhorns have won the last 10 Big 12 women's titles.

Texas already boasts fellow Olympian Erica Sullivan, who won silver in the 1,500-meter freestyle at the 2020 Olympics. She swims the free at Texas, too. While Jacoby started swimming with her friends when they were young, she said most of them trickled off in middle school and high school. These days, she trains mostly with high school underclassmen.

“I'm excited to get to a group that's more my peer group,” she said. “I do have so much appreciation and love for my team too, but I'm ready for a change.”

But while swimming played the main role in Jacoby's college decision, she also took into account UT's other programs. She said he has always been interested in fashion and will major in textiles and apparel at UT.

She committed a year and a half ago without taking an official visit from Alaska due to the NCAA's COVID-19 restrictions. But she seemed satisfied with her choice made before her celebrity began in the Olympic spotlight.

“I was really happy that I was committed before all of that happened,” she said. “Everything after was so overwhelming, and choosing a school in addition to all that would have been a lot.”

Before she makes the 3,000-mile move down to Austin, Jacoby still has a few things to wrap up. There are the world trials later this month. She's also got her senior prom, and then graduation from Seward High in May. Had she not rescheduled a swimming tournament, she would have missed the chance to walk the stage as part of Seward's 28-member senior class.

“Since the Olympics, I’ve kind of been forced to grow up fast,” Jacoby said. “I’ve definitely been prioritizing swimming, so it’s been fun that everything has been able to fit in.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Olympic swimming champion Lydia Jacoby is excited to swim for Texas