Lia Neal
Lia Neal is an American former professional swimmer who specialized in freestyle events. In her Olympic debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, she won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In 2016, she won a silver medal in the same event at Rio de Janeiro. She was the second female African-American swimmer to make a U.S. Olympic team.
Early life
Lia Neal was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1995, the daughter of Siu and Jerome Neal. Lia Neal is of African and Chinese descent. She started swimming when she was six years old in New York City. She attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in New York City, where she was a member of the club swim team, Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics.Career
2008 US Olympic Trials
Neal competed at the 2008 US Olympic Trials in swimming in Omaha, Nebraska from June to July 2008 when she was 13 years old. She ranked 28th in the 50-meter freestyle and 78th in the 100-meter freestyle.2012
2012 US Olympic Trials
At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, the U.S. qualifying meet for the Olympics, Neal made the U.S. Olympic team by finishing fourth in the 100-meter freestyle with a time of 54.33 seconds, which qualified her to swim in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.Neal was 17 years old when she became the second female African-American swimmer to qualify for a U.S. Olympic swimming team. She was also highlighted for the geographical diversity she brought to the U.S. Olympic swimming team as she was not from a warm-weather state, such as Florida or California, where U.S. Olympic swimmers typically come from.
2012 Summer Olympics
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Neal won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy and Allison Schmitt, with the U.S. team finishing third behind the teams from Australia and the Netherlands. Swimming the third leg, Neal had a split of 53.65 seconds and the U.S. team finished with a total time of 3:34.24, an American record. Neal was chosen to swim in the final based on her performance in the heats of the 4×100-meter freestyle. Swimming the lead-off leg in the heats, Neal posted a time of 54.15.Neal made history with fellow African-American swimmers Anthony Ervin and Cullen Jones by being the first three African-Americans on a US Olympic swim team with more than one African-American swimmer. She was also a senior in high school and the first student from the Convent of the Sacred Heart since its founding in 1881 to compete in an Olympic Games.