Lehigh legacies: Gail Jacobs’ path to the Hall of Fame

This is the beginning of an overall series featuring Lehigh Hall-of-Fame alumni.

Growing up in Alabama, Gailon “Gail” Jacobs, ‘89, ‘93G, and her twin sister enrolled in swimming lessons simply because their parents wanted them to try something new. By the end of the first day, they were placed in advanced classes.

That early start set Jacobs on a path that would eventually lead to her induction into the Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame.

As a youth swimmer, Jacobs competed against future Olympians and national record holders while training in some of the country’s most competitive environments. Her family moved several times, from Alabama to California and eventually to Florida, where she regularly qualified for state championships but often fell just short of the podium.

Encouraged by her grandfather — a Lehigh alumnus — Jacobs applied to the university. It was one of only two schools she considered. At the time, women made up roughly 25% of Lehigh’s student population, and when Jacobs arrived, she planned to quit swimming altogether.

“During my senior year of high school, I seriously considered quitting swimming because I was burned out, and I wanted to go to a school where I could enjoy everything about the school,” she said. 

Instead, she rediscovered her love for the sport. 

Jacobs was a four-year standout for the Lehigh women’s swim team from 1985 to 1989, earning repeated recognition in the East Coast Conference. She was named the conference’s most valuable swimmer for three consecutive seasons — 1986, 1987 and 1988 — and closed out her collegiate career with 10 Lehigh school records and five East Coast Conference records. She also earned Lehigh’s Freshman Athlete of the Year award in 1986 and Senior Athlete of the Year in 1989.

Her success extended beyond the Lehigh Valley. Jacobs was featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” in 1987, gaining  national attention. On campus, she received the John S. Steckbeck Award in 1986, the Mary O’Hurley Leadership Award in 1987 and the Karen A. Adams Graduating Female Athlete Award in 1989.

Specializing in distance freestyle, individual medley and breaststroke, Jacobs consistently dominated in the pool. At the 1988 conference championship at Lafayette College, she delivered a career-defining performance in the 1,650 freestyle. Her conference and pool record of 17:31.77 still stands in Easton. 

Phil Titterton, ‘87, former teammate and a captain of the Lehigh men’s swim team, said Jacobs’ work ethic set her apart.

“In the two years I swam with her, I never once saw her relax or take a lap off,” Titterton said. “When we were swimming 300 to 560 laps a day, which is four to eight miles, she was pushing as hard as she possibly could on every single lap.”

He said her consistency set a standard within the program, earning respect from both the men’s and women’s teams and establishing her as a quiet leader early in her collegiate career.

Former Lehigh coach Bruce Gardiner said Jacobs’ impact extended beyond her results.

“(Jacobs) was an outstanding athlete,” he said. “She was an outstanding person. My relationship with (Jacobs) at times was intense, because when you’re coaching swimmers, they work really hard.”

The women’s team finished 2-8 the season before Jacobs’ arrival but went 11-1 during her senior year in 1989. Gardiner credited much of that turnaround to her determination.

“I’m willing to bet that 99 times out of 100, when it came down to the last 10 yards in a race, (Jacobs) found a way to pull it out,” he said.

Jacobs remained undefeated in conference competition until her senior season, when a pair of losses changed how she viewed success.

That year, Jacobs battled illness alongside family struggles, taking a toll both physically and emotionally.

“Senior year at Lehigh, I really wasn’t at my top performance,” Jacobs said. “But I entered the races I wanted to swim rather than ‘I was the best (at)’ and I knew I could win.”

During the conference championship, Jacobs finished second — the first conference loss of her collegiate career. Jacobs said the loss caught her off guard, as it was the first time she’d been beaten in conference competition. 

What felt like a setback became a turning point.

“It was probably the best thing that could have happened to me,” Jacobs said. “You put it all out there. As long as you’ve done that, and it doesn’t really matter about the place or the time.”

Jacobs was inducted into the Roger S. Penske/Lehigh Athletics’ Hall of Fame in 1994, becoming one of the earliest female athletes to receive the honor. She said she was unaware the hall of fame  existed until former dean of athletics Joe Sterrett called her. 

She said the honor came as a surprise because swimming didn’t typically receive much attention on campus and she’d never viewed herself as exceptional in that context.

After graduating, Jacobs briefly served as an assistant swim coach at Lehigh before transitioning into a hall director role and obtaining her Masters of arts degree in sociology. She later worked alongside Gardiner in the admissions office, an outcome neither expected.

“I knew what my plans were, and I knew what her plans were,” Gardiner said. “(The job) kind of fell into my lap, and we ended up spending a couple of years working together.”

Jacobs served three years as a guidance counselor at a boarding school in Rhode Island, and later earned a Masters of science degree in labor and industrial relations from University of Rhode Island. She then went on to build a career in human resources and talent operations.

Her work took her across the globe, with extended assignments in China, Japan and Singapore. She led human resources teams, managed global mobility and helped develop talent acquisition systems for major companies.

For years, Jacobs spent more time traveling than at home. 

“My husband and I sort of had a non-traditional marriage in the sense that I was always on the road traveling, and he was a teacher in Rhode Island,” Jacobs said. 

Today, Jacobs continues working in human resources, finding fulfillment in helping others grow professionally.

Looking back, Jacobs credits Lehigh with shaping who she is and encourages student-athletes to explore interests beyond their sport and take risks early in their careers. 

“Don’t limit yourself,” she said. “Take advantage of everything in the classroom and outside the classroom. Be the person who says ‘yes’ to things. Accept opportunities — like your first job after college, or an assignment that you’re not sure you can do — that you just might not have in some other time in your life.”