Lia Neal
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Personal information | |
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National team | ![]() |
Born | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | February 13, 1995
Height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
Sport | |
Sport | Swimming |
Strokes | Freestyle |
Club | Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics (Eastside) |
College team | Stanford University |
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Medal record |
Lia Neal (born February 13, 1995) is an American competitive swimmer who specializes 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[]
Neal was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1995, the daughter of Siu and Jerome Neal. Neal is of African and Chinese descent.[1][2] She started swimming when she was six years old in New York City.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
Neal was 17 years old when she became the second female African-American swimmer to qualify for a U.S. Olympic swimming team.[3] 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.[7]
2012 Summer Olympics[]
2012 Summer Olympics | ||
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4x100 m freestyle relay | 3:34.24 |
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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]
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 was first, Neal was second and Natalie Hinds was third.[11][12]
2016 Summer Olympics[]
2016 Summer Olympics | ||
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4x100 m freestyle relay | 3:31.89 |
In 2016 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Neal won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in the Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.
2017[]
From 2013 to 2017, Neal competed collegiately for Stanford University where she was an 8-time NCAA champion.[13]
2019 World Championships[]
2019 World Championships | ||
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4x100 m freestyle relay | 3:31.02 |
In July 2019 at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Lia Neal anchored the 4x100-meter freestyle relay swimming a 54.41 and winning a silver medal in the finals.[14]
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 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 channel.[15] 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.[16][17]
2021[]
In May 2021, Neal announced her retirement from the sport of swimming.[18]
See also[]
References[]
- ^ Jenee Desmond-Harris, "Olympic Swim Team's 2nd Black Woman Archived 2012-08-09 at the Wayback Machine," The Root (August 2, 2012). Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ Rogers, Katie (August 12, 2016). "A Closer Look at Simone Manuel, Olympic Medalist, History Maker". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Lia Neal, 17-Year-Old Swimmer, Becomes 2nd African-American Woman To Make Olympic Swim Team". HuffPost. July 13, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ Crouse, Karen (March 7, 2008). "13-Year-Old Blazes a Lane in Swimming's Olympic Pool". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
- ^ Omega Timing (July 6, 2008). "2008 Olympic Trials Results". USA Swimming. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
- ^ Omega Timing, 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Swimming, Women's 100 m Freestyle (Finals) Archived 2012-07-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Lia Neal". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.
- ^ "Black Swimmers Have Historic Presence in London Olympics". Atlanta Black Star. July 5, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ Chicoine, Christie L. (July 20, 2012). "Convent of the Sacred Heart Swimmer Bringing Home the Bronze". Catholic New York. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
- ^ "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. March 23, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
- ^ "Three Black Women Swimmers Make NCAA History". News One. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
- ^ "Lia Neal". swimswam.com. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ https://swimswam.com/bio/lia-neal/
- ^ SwimSwam (April 3, 2021). "Swimming From Home Talk Show: Lia Neal on Getting to Know Swimmers Outside the Pool". YouTube. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- ^ Neal, Lia Maria. "Lia Maria Neal - About". YouTube. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- ^ Neal, Lia Maria (March 8, 2020). "OLYMPIAN BECOMES YOUTUBER". YouTube. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
- ^ Sutherland, James (May 26, 2021). "Two-Time Olympic Medalist Lia Neal Announces Retirement From Swimming". SwimSwam. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
External links[]
- Official website
- Lia Neal at USA Swimming
- Lia Neal at FINA (archived)
- Lia Neal at the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
- Lia Neal at Olympics.com (archived: OlympicChannel.com and Olympic.org)
- Lia Neal at Olympedia
- 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