DT 2021-11-30 by The Daily Texan

DT VOLUME 122, ISSUE 38 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021

UT students decolonize beauty Students of color reflect on how eurocentric beauty standards impact their self-image.

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UTIMCO must commit a portion of funds to green energy investments.

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UT researchers are leading a project using the most powerful telescope ever made.

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UT creates Academic Technology Council to improve coordination of technology By Joelle DiPaolo @JoelleDipaolo

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thing,” Mijangos said. Markman said incorporating technology into professor’s curricula shouldn’t be a frustrating experience. The goal of the council is to ensure there are available resources to support them. This increased communication between colleges resulted in a new badging program where students and faculty receive electronic badges after taking certain classes or training to signify competency in a subject, Markman said. The badges are a way for students to develop specific skills and prove mastery of them, said Cynthia Labrake, a member of the Texas Institute for Discovery Education and Science, which is helping start the badge initiative. Potential employers can see a digital badge and how a student earned it,

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UT is looking to improve technology literacy and accessibility campus wide with a new council it created last month. The Academic Technology Council held their first meeting Friday, Nov. 12 to address the need for increased technology coordination on campus, according to an email from council co-chair Art Markman. Additionally, the council is collaborating with other UT faculty to create a new campus wide badging program that shows proficiency in different skills, such as digital literacy. “The aim of the new technology council is to really focus on how we build on some of the strengths that we have in place (at the) University, to find new opportunities, and to make it easier for us to develop methods to make use of the latest technologies in what we’re doing,” said Markman, vice provost for continuing professional education and new education ventures. Through the use of college-specific focus groups, the council identified that faculty have different proficiency levels with available technology, cochair Shelly Rodriguez said. “We really wanted to hear from all of the colleges … (and) we wanted to hear from people who weren’t necessarily technophiles,” Rodriguez said. Mariana Mijangos, a Plan II and neuroscience sophomore, said education can help professors use technology to aid student learning better. “There was a whole week where I didn’t have class because the professor couldn’t figure out the whole Zoom

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Labrake said. “Badging is a way to tie together what you’re learning and how well you learned it,” Labrake said. “It’s a more precise way to know yourself and to show others what you can do.” Texas Inventionworks, a makerspace and open prototyping lab in the Engineering Education and Research Center, is planning on launching a prototype of their introductory-level badges in the spring, director Scott Evans said, and their badges will prove competency in various skills such as 3D-printing. “Think of it as academic currency,” Evans said. “It’s like Bitcoin, but it’s related to skills and knowledge and academic stuff. Eventually you’re going to have a collection of these badges and credentials that you’re going to carry with you.”

The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely. If we have made an error, let us know about it. E-mail managingeditor@thedailytexan.com.

NEWS

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021

UNIVERSITY

First motorsports internship program offered to Dell Medical students By Kevin Vu @Kevin_Vu_

Dell Medical students raced to aid race car drivers in crashes at last month’s MotoGP and Formula 1 races at the Circuit of The Americas as a part of the school’s first motorsports internship program. Students became ground medics for the weekend and treated drivers involved in crashes or accidents, along with any health issues in the audience or car maintenance team. John Bedolla, chief medical officer for the Circuit of The Americas, said he created the internship as a way to provide medical students the ability to apply what they learned in the classroom to real-world situations. “This gives them a good opportunity to give them a unique opportunity to do something that no other medical student in the world can do. And also to give them a kind of unique oneof-a-kind experience that they can get,” said Bedolla, a medical education assistant professor. “It gives them experience in mass events, …

and even experience running things and what it means to be a doctor leading something like this.” Allison Edwards, a firstyear medical student, said she was excited to join the internship since her dad has loved motorcycle racing since she was young. She said she felt prepared to help drivers in a fast-paced environment after receiving internship training that helped interns know how to engage with the race track and get drivers out of totaled vehicles. “I felt like I knew what I was going to need to do should anything happen,” Edwards said. “It was a good thing that we did all the training and were able to be there in the moment and think with a clear head and know exactly what we needed to do.” Edwards said in one instance, race control called on her during the Moto 3 race to respond to a crash involving three racers. “I was looking at the front and all of a sudden, I see this freaking bike and rider go — I don’t even know how high

in the air — enough to go over the fence that you’re sitting behind,” Edwards said. “It was three guys and one of them just clipped the other two and all three of them completely wiped out on the track.” Edwards said she and two other medical students attended to the three racers in quick motion to keep the race going. Bedolla said Dell Medical School plans to keep the internship in place and hopes to add more opportunities to offer medical students more experience on the ground. First-year medical student Tye Norman said he participated in both races and found the experience interesting since he got to take the position of a ground medic, which is something people usually do not think about. “I would say the behind-the-scenes aspect was something that was really interesting,” Norman said. “When you’re watching everything on screen, you see all of these moving parts but you really don’t know what’s kind of driving them behind it.”

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copyright john bedolla, and reproduced with permission Dell Medical students aided race car drivers in crashes during the MotoGP and Formula 1 races at the Circuit of The Americas as part of the school’s first motorsports internship program.

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SCIENCE

UT researchers lead project using world’s most powerful telescope By Katy Nelson @KatyNel86

UT researchers will lead a project using the world’s most powerful telescope to see images and data of galaxies closer to the Big Bang than ever before. The James Webb Telescope, set to launch Dec. 22, is expected to be the world’s most powerful telescope for its infrared sensors and expansive spectrograph, an instrument for measuring light, to see further into the universe than previously observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Associate astronomy professor Caitlin Casey and her group of researchers proposed their project, COSMOS-Webb, to look at some of the universe’s oldest galaxies.

“We’re covering roughly the area of three full moons of the sky,” Casey said. “We’re able to not only detect the first galaxies but also understand if they’re clustered groups of galaxies at this early time in the universe’s history or if galaxies are more spread out and that actually is pretty important for understanding how the first structures in the universe formed very early on.” The team will begin using the telescope about six months after its launch and will have about nine days to conduct their research, Casey said. Associate astronomy professor Steven Finkelstein said the James Webb Telescope has two distinct advantages over the current most powerful telescope, the Hubble Space Telescope, because of its mirror and infrared capabilities. The Hubble telescope only operates with visible and ultraviolet light.

“If you want to take a spectrum, what you usually do is you block out everything except one object that you want to see and you would have a little open slit learning through light from just that one object,” Finkelstein said. “So when you look at a different field, you could say okay, here’s the 100 galaxies I want to observe. There are these various random places, and then you could go to another field in the sky and you could reconfigure it. And so that’s extremely powerful. We have not been able to do that from space before.” The James Webb Telescope experienced multiple delays over the past few years, including a current setback involving an unexpected vibration that delayed the telescope by four days, Finkelstein said. Casey said there are so many delays because astronauts or scientists cannot physically repair the telescope once it is

launched into space for observation. “(The telescope) is sent to a point beyond Earth where we cannot send astronauts,” Casey said. “It’s a special point where there’s gravitational stability, it’ll basically orbit the sun instead.” Graduate astronomy student Olivia Cooper said in addition to observing galaxies from the earliest history of the universe, she also hopes the telescope will help answer questions about the habitability of life on other planets. “We have specific questions we want to answer and that we will get answered, and then there will be questions we didn’t know we had that will become clear and that show science works,” Cooper said. “I’m excited for that part, for the new mysteries that will be revealed by more information.”

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COLUMN

Commit portion of UTIMCO funds to green energy UTIMCO should redirect a portion of its investable assets into green energy to offsett the effects of oil and gas invetments. By Michael Lazenby Columnist

he University of Texas/ Texas A&M Investment Management Company holds nearly $32 billion in assets. The endowment manager selects external money managers to directly invest the $32 billion in companies. From currencies and bonds to stocks and funds, UTIMCO has a variety of available investment avenues. However, they’ve failed to sufficiently invest in the expansive and environmentally conscious green energy sector, and instead invested millions in oil and gas. UTIMCO should reallocate a percentage of its funds into green energy companies in order to commit to environmental practices and redirect itself away from harmful investments. “I am very much in favor of this idea, and I think divesting from fossil fuels and reinvesting in green energy is not just the morally right thing but the right thing from a business standpoint,” said Leland Murphy, a government junior and active participant in on-campus climate coalitions. “The market is moving towards green

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energy; we really (should) want to be a university (system) that’s making moves in the right direction.” In addition to the compelling climate and sustainability benefits, the green energy market is ripe for growth. Investing in green energy is not only conducive to creating a more environmentally sustainable portfolio, but also a more economically sustainable one as well. “We absolutely should be divesting (from our holdings in big oil). We have this huge (endowment) but we’re not investing in the right things,” Murphy said. “Having (invested funds) in that endowment (for green energy) would help continue building up an industry.” While divestment is the ultimate SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | Email your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

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goal, investing in green energy can offset the effects of climate change UTIMCO is contributing to by investing in major oil companies. Karen Adler, director of media relations for the University of Texas System, explained UTIMCO’s stance on investing in green energy companies and referenced UTIMCO’s policy statements in an email. “UTIMCO is prohibited from using any funds to ‘achieve temporal benefits for any purpose including use of its economic power to advance social or political purposes,’” Adler said in an email. While UTIMCO can’t invest for the sake of sustainability, Adler mentioned that the money managers they employ consider nonfinancial factors. RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.

“Many external firms that UTIMCO hires to manage endowment assets do consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment processes,” Adler said. Consideration is not action. It would make sense for the endowment manager to be hesitant about investing in sustainability if it hadn’t been pursued in the past. However, Harvard University’s endowment pledged to fully phase out its investments in fossil fuels. If endowments across the globe are taking steps, why isn’t UTIMCO? It’s reasonable that the nation’s largest public endowment fund is focused on high returns on their investments. However, they’re overlooking potential investment opportunities. For example, Shell’s share price has fallen roughly 20% in the last five years, while green energy companies such as Cheniere Energy have delivered a five year return of over 166%. Oil and gas companies are also at the mercy of volatile oil prices, while green energy companies are not as heavily impacted. Many of these green energy companies not only exert a smaller carbon footprint, but can also offer a more predictable increase in stock price. If not for the societal impact, do it for the return on investment. UTIMCO was “the first investment corporation formed by a public university system.” While a pioneer in the public endowment space, they’re lacking in their current environmental considerations. UTIMCO can continue their financial success while playing their part in reducing the effects of climate change by redirecting funds into green energy companies. Lazenby is an economics junior from Chicago, Illinois. EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanOpinion) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.

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OPINION

COLUMN

UT, be more transparent about funding from oil, fracking If UT wishes to call itself an environmentally conscious university, it must be more open about the funding it receives from fossil fuels. By Mia Abbe Columnist

T has the one of the biggest endowment, in the country, second only to Harvard University. The endowment money comes from revenue generated by a tract of West Texas land set aside by the Texas legislature in 1836, and the majority of the revenue comes from oil and fracking. Two thirds of the proceeds from this available university fund, generated from the revenue and returns from investments made with the revenue, go to UT. The University considers itself to be eco-conscious and has an office of sustainability that strives to increase student sustainability efforts. However, UT is continuously criticized from both inside and outside the University for continuing to accept funding from fossil fuels, which have been proven time and time again to be harmful for the environment. Because of the ongoing climate crisis and student concern, UT should be more transparent about where the LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

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funding comes from as well as why they have not made the switch from oil to more sustainable resources. One student organization, Students Fighting Climate Change, has been especially vocal in their efforts to call on UT to divest from oil. Most recently, the organization made a list of demands for President Hartzell that called for a meeting to discuss the University System’s fossil fuel investments with the Board of Regents and UTIMCO, an investment company that manages investments for the UT and Texas A&M university systems. The organization is also urging UT to form an independent democratic committee consisting of SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | Email your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

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students, professors and experts to create a climate equity plan for UT. When President Hartzell canceled the meeting with the group, students protested outside the tower and outside his office. Another UT organization, UT Financial Relief, has called on UT in the past for more transparency with regards to funding. Jackie Cheng, a UT Financial Relief steering committee member, explained why UT Financial Relief demands divestment from fossil fuels. “We can’t really be sustainable if a university is getting funding from oil or fracking businesses,” said Cheng, a sociology and international relations and global studies RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.

sophomore. “I think I can speak for a lot of students that we don’t feel comfortable and we don’t feel good that this university that we put so much into is actively taking our business to people who are doing so much harm, not just for the university, but for the world as a whole and for climate change.” The issue of the endowment is compex. While it makes sense for UT to make a switch to more renewable resources in light of the climate crisis, such a shift might mean a decrease in funding for certain areas. After salaries and benefits and University-operating expenses, the two biggest beneficiaries of UT spending are financial aid and scholarships and academics and research development. According to Karen Adler, director of media relations for the University of Texas System, about 12% of UT’s budget in the 2022 financial year will come from the endowment. UT and all of its students are extremely lucky to be able to benefit from such a large endowment. However, the University must take responsibility for their role in the climate crisis. Fracking has a devastating effect on the environment, yet UT continues to use it as a resource to earn money. The University must be more open about where funding comes from and why they have not yet considered divestment from fossil fuels. UT should remember its slogan: What starts here really will change the world. Whether it’s a positive or negative change is up to the University. Abbe is a communications studies and government sophomore from Fort Worth, Texas.

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LIFE&ARTS

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STUDENT LIFE

UT students decolonize beauty Students of color reflect on how eurocentric beauty standards impact their self-image. By Ikram Mohamed @ikramxmoham

taring back at their reflection through the mirror, Angel Coleman took the last glimpse of their heat-damaged, stick-straight hair. Straightening their hair for as long as they’d remembered, they didn’t know the last time they saw a curl on their head. So they shaved it all off. Taking in their freshly shaved head, Coleman couldn’t help but question what they’d just done. “I was embarrassed to let other people see me because I was convinced (my hair) didn’t look good,” the radio-television-film sophomore said. “Through that process of figuring out how to like it, I slowly became more comfortable with myself.” Eurocentric beauty standards, or the preference for light-skinned, skinny, straight-haired figures, disproportionately affect self-image for people of color. Many UT students of color have struggled with colorism and unrealistic images of beauty since their youth, which have harmed self-perception and self-confidence. Now they share how they fight against these societal pressures.

With their family coming from various racial backgrounds, Coleman said the way beauty standards applied to them depended on what side of their family they were around. “In Black communities, I (was) praised,” Coleman said. “I was constantly told I have beautiful hair and stuff like that, but from a Hispanic point of view, … I would be ridiculed for being dark or for my Black features.” After shaving their head, Coleman said they started reconstructing their ideas of beauty. In the moment, they did not find the process liberating, but eventually it made them more comfortable with their self-image. Shaving their head changed their perspective and gave them the ability to find themself beautiful without relating it to the way they looked. “The easiest way to free yourself from eurocentric beauty standards is to retrain your brain to understand that (looks are) irrelevant,” Coleman said. “There’s other ways to be fulfilled in your life and to feel beautiful, that don’t involve the way you look.” Mary Beltrán, a radio-television-film associate professor, specializes in the intersection of film and television and critical race theory. She said the beauty standards within society enforce social hierarchies and many people view attractiveness as related to qualities like intelligence, bravery and kindness. “In fact, there’s no correlation at all,” Beltrán said. “People forget that there’s this really unfair system by which Black or dark-skinned Latinos have fewer opportunities.” The application of beauty standards in media, Beltrán said, reinforces an unrealistic image of what

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people look like. “It can lead to self-esteem problems … (for) kids who don’t fit that narrow standard of what beauty is thought of in Hollywood,” Beltrán said. “It does damage.” The polar opposite of society’s beloved thin, small-nosed, white woman, Frida Espinosa described herself as a curvier, thick-skinned, thick-nosed Latina woman. The neuroscience sophomore said while she may pass as lighter-skinned and fall under that dimension of beauty standards, she faces pressures as a plus-sized woman. “(Being plus-sized) has taken a big toll on my image of what beauty is,” the neuroscience sophomore said. “It put me down a lot as a child and embedded ideas in my head that if I was skinnier, more people would be my friend. I always wanted to be

accepted and loved by everyone, to be appealing to everyone’s eye.” Espinosa said the Hispanic community often talks down to darker complexions, deeming them unattractive. In hopes of appearing more attractive, Espinosa said she grew more conscious of the state of her skin and whether she appeared to be white passing. “They’d call (my mom) names like ‘morena,’ referring to her darker skin in a derogatory form,” Espinosa said. “It shifted my view and I (thought) if I stayed out of the sun, I wouldn’t get as dark as my mom, and that way I won’t get made fun of.” Growing up biracial with both Indian and white heritage, sociology junior Kai Bovik said they faced colorism frequently. Receiving compliments on their white features

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led Bovik to value those parts of themself and accentuate them while rejecting the parts that didn’t fall into eurocentric beauty standards. Bovik said that their nonbinary identity allowed them to break free from these beauty standards. They understood that by physically transitioning they would no longer fall under the standard of beauty anymore. “Leaving the realms of desirability behind when you transition makes you rethink a lot of stuff,” Bovik said. “Not only are the things that this transition brings me (things) that I used to think were bad, like body hair, facial hair and (other) things that are deemed masculine — which (are) usually … associated with women of color — but I kind of started to see those as beautiful.”

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021

LIFE&ARTS

STUDENT LIFE

Amid plans for new esports arena, women discuss inclusivity in gaming community By Isabella Gonzalez-Lawson @Isauhbellah

By day, Alesha Kimble presents herself as a typical UT student. By night, Kimble serves as the master for a competitive “World of Warcraft” guild. Her persona online goes on adventures between fantastical realms to fight monsters with friends. Kimble played until this past summer, when Blizzard Entertainment, the company that spearheaded “World of Warcraft” and other major video game titles such as “Overwatch” and “Diablo,” came under fire for rampant sexual harassment within the workplace. “When I found out, I felt very disappointed, because I considered Blizzard games to be something of comfort,” the speech-language pathology senior said. “At that moment we had been working on stuff for the guild, and I noticed immediately that our motivation had dropped. None of us wanted to do anything anymore because it’s like, how could we sit here and continue to support this game while they’re doing (misogynistic) things.” Sexism within the gaming industry reflects the sexism within the gaming community, Kimble said. Last spring, UT announced plans to develop an esports arena — an area with computers and gaming chairs where students can game together — within the Texas Union. As gaming organizations gain popularity on campus, its underbelly of misogyny remains constant.

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UT’s expansive gaming community includes over five clubs and hundreds of people. Women in Gaming in particular offers a space for women who have had negative interactions in the gaming community. Shreya Agarwala, the president of Women in Gaming, emphasized the importance of creating spaces for women. “Noticeably when you go to meetings with Longhorn Gaming, there are less women in the room,” finance senior Agarwala said. “That has to do with the fact that oftentimes, the negative experiences women have online with gaming are related to things that men will say.” Women in Gaming aims to combat the isolation women usually feel when entering the gaming community by providing a space for female gamers, Agarwala said. “Playing online games can be rough sometimes if you are a girl,” Agarwala said. “It’s a very deep rooted problem in gaming, this idea that women are not good at video games.”

As for Kimble, she worries the new esports arena will intimidate gamers, most notably female gamers, as the arena will also be used to house Longhorn Gaming’s competitive esports teams. “You go into a space and you want to interact and find peers to play video games with but you feel this aura of intimidation,” Kimble said. “When women go into these gaming spaces, they already have these stereotypes or expectations placed against them.” Longhorn Gaming partners with the Union to lead the formation of the new esports arena. Daphnee Grignon, a communications and leadership junior, said the new esports arena will legitimize esports’ presence on campus. With Grignon’s background as a pro esports player, she said she understands the prominence of discrimination within gaming firsthand. As she stepped into the role as director of esports for Longhorn Gaming,

she said she made sure to nurture a welcoming gaming community. “We crack down on any any sort of toxicity, whether it be homophobia (or) discrimination against women, we just put our foot down,” Grignon said. “Having these strict guidelines that say: ‘We’re not going to tolerate this sort of behavior,’ has really helped our communities be more inclusive.” Grignon attributes major developments in Longhorn Gaming to the officers who make it their priority to promote inclusivity. She said she loves how Longhorn Gaming rises above typical gaming communities in terms of inclusivity and hopes this difference will be reflected in the new esports arena. “People who aren’t in (Longhorn Gaming) can come and try the space out,” Grignon said. “Even if they’re hesitant, we’re a very inclusive community. We want people to have a good time, and that’s all we really want.”

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CONGRATULATIONS UT GRADUATES!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021

SPORTS

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Longhorn Lydia Jacoby

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medal at 17 years old. But the Texas commit is just starting

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Swimmer Lydia Jacoby made waves after winning a gold

By Aakriti Singla

Swimming from a young age

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warm morning in late July at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, eight swimmers lined up on the diving board to compete for one of the most anticipated Olympic swimming races of the summer. All eyes fixated on Team USA’s world and Olympic record holder Lilly King and South African swimmer Tatjana Schoenmaker in the 100-meter breaststroke race. But fans were shocked when lane three stole the spotlight. Lydia Jacoby, a 17-year-old from Alaska, surprised the world when she won first place, earning her state its first gold Olympic medal. Most 17-year-olds spent last summer differently. Wisdom teeth removals. College applications. Pesky summer homework readings. Meanwhile, in a summer already full of records and memories, Jacoby marked another milestone, committing to Texas before officially signing Nov. 10.

Jacoby grew up in Seward, Alaska. From an early age, she and her family spent most of their time on a sailboat. Both of her parents are licensed boat captains. “I started swimming to be comfortable in the water and to be a proficient swimmer, since we were around the ocean so much,” Jacoby said. But it quickly grew into much more. At the age of six, Jacoby joined a local swim team, where she spent much of her childhood years breaking Alaskan swim records and making memories both in and out of the pool. “I did it with a big group of my friends, and we would all do it together, so I just kept going from there,” Jacoby said. “I would mostly compete along the Kenai Peninsula, and when I was older than 10, I started competing in more out-of-state competitions.” Jacoby quickly set herself apart from the pack — longtime Anchorage swim coach Cliff Murray told the Anchorage Daily News that Jacoby was on “everybody’s radar” after one of her first outof-state meets as a 10-year-old at the Western Zone championships.

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Texas commit Lydia Jacoby became the first Alaskan swimmer to go to the Olympics and bring a gold medal to her home state.

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brings Alaska gold, deep dives into future But she also kept participating on her school’s swim team, returning to compete in her senior year after being homeschooled last year due to COVID-19. “It can definitely be tough, but in general I was with a lot of my friends most of the time, so I was able to stay close with a lot of people. But it was definitely hard sometimes.” Jacoby said. The road to the Olympics

At just 14 years old, Jacoby qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100-meter breaststroke race. Little did she know, that same qualifying race that would place her in the Olympic arena would be the same race where she would win gold. “I was training for (the) Olympic trials, not really thinking I would go to the Olympics,” Jacoby said. “It wasn’t really until the April before (the) Olympic trials that I really realized that I had a significant shot at making the team.” That April, at a professional meet in Mission Viejo, California, she shaved more than a second off her 100-meter breaststroke time, hitting under 67 seconds with a time of 1:06:38. According to the Anchorage Daily News, Jacoby told a Texas coach who was attending the California meet: “I want to go to Tokyo.” Then, during the Olympic Trials in early June, she did it again, cutting over a second off her previous personal best to punch her ticket to Tokyo with a time of 1:05:28. Jacoby became the first Alaskan swimmer to go to the Olympics. But she didn’t just take home a participation trophy. On July 27, in the 100-meter breaststroke final, Jacoby stunned the audience with a time of 1:04:95, coming in first place and winning her first gold medal, just two milliseconds away from beating the Olympic record set by Lilly King in the 2016 Olympics. “It was definitely high pressure, and (King and Tatjana) were who everyone was watching, and so I knew there weren’t that many people that would be paying attention to me,” Jacoby said. “I was just trying to take advantage of not having that pressure on me from other people, and just swim and have fun, and that’s what I did.” Schoenmaker, who finished second, and King, who finished third, were visibly proud of Jacoby after the race.

“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,” King said in a post-race interview. Jacoby left Tokyo with not one Olympic medal but two. The future Longhorn also raced in the 400-meter mixed medley relay, where she placed second despite having her swim goggles knocked off halfway through the race. “I knew I was definitely in the competition for a medal, but I was never expecting two medals, and one of them being gold,” Jacoby said.

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Texas Women’s Swimming and Diving, Team USA and future goals

Though she has already won two Olympic medals, Jacoby’s career is just beginning. The Olympian will join coaches Carol Capitani and Mitch Dalton at the Forty Acres after she finished her senior season and high school swimming career in November by smashing her own previously set state records. “I think the bigger team environment is going to be very new and also very special for her, and I think Carol and Mitch, along with her teammates, will enjoy what she brings to the team, both from a personality standpoint as well as a work ethic standpoint,” said Seward head coach Solomon D’Amico, Lydia’s coach and mentor. Even if swimming doesn’t work out, Jacoby also has interests in music, art and fashion design. She plans to study textile & apparel fashion design at Texas and plays double bass as part of a bluegrass band back home. “I chose UT for a couple reasons. I love the coaches, so they were definitely a big part of my decision,” Jacoby said. “I know a lot of people that go to a D1 college go to be an athlete, but it has always been important for me to get a higher education, so that fit very well together.” She is also set to participate in the individual breaststroke events with Team USA at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi in December. Even before Jacoby sets foot on the Forty Acres next fall as a Longhorn, the world is sure to see her face in many more championships, and perhaps in the future, more Olympic medal ceremonies.

17-year-old Lydia Jacoby brought home the gold in the 100-meter breaststroke and silver in the 400-meter mixed medley relay at the Tokyo Olympics.

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