Lia Neal (born February 13, 1995) is a former American professional

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specialized in

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

events. In her Olympic debut at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

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 Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. She was the second female

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

swimmer to make a U.S. Olympic team.

Early life

Lia Neal was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York in 1995, the daughter of Siu and Jerome Neal. Lia Neal is of

African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

and

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

descent.Rogers, Katie (August 12, 2016)
"A Closer Look at Simone Manuel, Olympic Medalist, History Maker"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved July 21, 2021. She started swimming when she was six years old in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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 Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

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.

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

(July 6, 2008)
"2008 Olympic Trials Results"
''

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overal ...

''. Retrieved July 4, 2021.

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."Lia Neal, 17-Year-Old Swimmer, Becomes 2nd African-American Woman To Make Olympic Swim Team"
''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2021. 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 Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where U.S. Olympic swimmers typically come from."NYC's Lia Neal becomes 2nd African-Americas woman to make US Olympic swim team"
''The Philadelphia Sunday Sun''. July 8, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2021.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the

in London, Neal won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with

Missy Franklin Melissa Franklin Johnson (born May 10, 1995) is an American former competition swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She formerly held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (long course). As a member of the U.S. national swim team ...

Jessica Hardy Jessica Adele Hardy Meichtry (born March 12, 1987) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle events. Hardy earned a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle and a gold medal in the 4×100-meter medley r ...

and

Allison Schmitt Allison Rodgers Schmitt (born June 7, 1990) is an American competition Swimming (sport), swimmer who specializes in Freestyle swimming, freestyle events. She is a four-time Olympic Games, Olympian and a ten-time Olympic medalist. In her Olympic ...

, 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 Anthony Lee Ervin (born May 26, 1981) is an American competition swimmer who has won four Olympic medals and two World Championship golds. At the 2000 Summer Olympics, he won a gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle, and earned a silver med ...

and

Cullen Jones Cullen Andrew Jones (born February 29, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic gold medalist who specializes in Freestyle swimming, freestyle sprint events. As part of the American team, he holds the List of world records in ...

by being the first three African-Americans on a US Olympic swim team with more than one African-American swimmer."Black Swimmers Have Historic Presence in London Olympics"
''

Atlanta Black Star The ''Atlanta Black Star'' is the largest black-owned digital publication in the United States. The publication is based in Atlanta, Georgia which focuses on the African American perspective on politics. It was founded in 2012 by Neil "Jelani" ...

''. July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2021. 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 The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

2015

In 2015, Neal became one of the first three African-American swimmers to place in the top three spots at the 100-yard freestyle in any Women’s Division I NCAA Swimming Championship;

Simone Manuel ] Simone Ashley Manuel (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional Swimming (sport), swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x1 ...

was first, Neal was second and

Natalie Hinds Natalie Anisha Hinds is an American professional swimmer specializing in freestyle and butterfly events. She made her international championships debut at 27 years of age, winning a bronze medal in the 4×100 meter freestyle relay at the 2020 ...

was third."Three College Swimmers Make History At NCAA Championship: African-American swimmers took the top three finishes in a single event at NCAA Swimming Championships this weekend"
''

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

''. March 23, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2021.

2016 Summer Olympics

In 2016 at

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Neal won a silver medal at the

in the Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, swimming in the preliminary heats of the race.

2017

From 2013 to 2017, Neal competed collegiately for

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

where she was an 8-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

champion.

2019 World Championships

In July 2019 at the

2019 World Aquatics Championships The 2019 World Aquatics Championships were the 18th FINA World Aquatics Championships, held in Gwangju, South Korea from 12 to 28 July 2019. The city had previously hosted the 2015 Summer Universiade aquatics events in the same venues.

Gwangju Gwangju () is South Korea's sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home Minister. The city was also the capital of South Jeolla Province until the provincial office ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, Lia Neal anchored the 4x100-meter freestyle relay swimming a 54.41 and winning a silver medal in the finals.

2020

In April 2020 Neal shared a bit about herself and her efforts to widen the perspective of swimmers, including herself, outside the pool via a

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

podcast. One of the ways she has worked to make the swimming community more visible and approachable to those outside the swimming community is through her

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel.

(April 3, 2021)
"Swimming From Home Talk Show: Lia Neal on Getting to Know Swimmers Outside the Pool"
''

''. Retrieved July 10, 2021. She started the channel August 19, 2016 and began uploading videos related to the diversification of perceptions of swimmers in March 2020 when she announced she was becoming a YouTuber.Neal, Lia Maria
"Lia Maria Neal - About"
''

''. Retrieved July 10, 2021.Neal, Lia Maria (March 8, 2020)
"OLYMPIAN BECOMES YOUTUBER"
''

''. Retrieved July 10, 2021.

2021: Retirement from competitive swimming

In May 2021, Neal announced her retirement from the sport of swimming.Sutherland, James (May 26, 2021)
"Two-Time Olympic Medalist Lia Neal Announces Retirement From Swimming"
''

''. Retrieved June 17, 2021.

Personal

Sponsorships

TYR Sport, Inc. TYR Sport, Inc. is an American designer, developer and manufacturer of competitive swim and triathlon apparel and related specialized athletics gear. It shares ownership with Swimwear Anywhere. Company history TYR was founded in Huntington Beach, ...

signed Neal in 2017 as a sponsor of her

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

swimming career.Brien, Taylor (August 24, 2017)
"Two-Time Olympian Lia Neal Joins Team TYR"
''

Swimming World ''Swimming World'' is a US-based monthly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'', (known ...

''. Retrieved October 3, 2021.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Lia 1995 births Living people African-American sportswomen American sportspeople of Chinese descent American female freestyle swimmers Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in swimming Sportspeople from Brooklyn Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2019 Pan American Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Convent of the Sacred Heart (NYC) alumni Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming Universiade medalists in swimming Universiade gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in swimming Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women