NY’s Lia Neal, who is the daughter of a Chinese-American mother and
NY’s Lia Neal, who is the daughter of a Chinese-American mother and African-American father, is the second woman of African-American descent to make the U.S. Olympic swim team.
Training most days for the last nine years, Neal — who will be a senior at the Upper East Side’s Convent of the Sacred Heart — has led a very different life from most teenagers.
Her mother gets the self-proclaimed “not a morning person” out of bed at 5 a.m. and drives her to practice before school. She practices again after school and for a couple of hours each weekend day.
Neal’s father said the medal belonged to his wife, Sui, who encouraged Neal to continue even when she didn’t believe in herself.
It wasn’t until about a month before the Olympic trials, during the Charlotte USA Swimming Grand Prix, that Neal actually began to believe that she had what it takes to go to the Olympics.