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Congratulations Bronze-Medal Winner and Brooklynite Lia Neal!

Posted on

July 31, 2012
via NYTimes.com: Lia Neal in the third leg of the women’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay

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Lia Neal is a 17-year-old Olympic swimmer from Brooklyn. On Saturday, Lia Neal won a Bronze medal swimming the third leg of the women’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay in London. She is the second African American woman to swim for the US Olympic team and she comes from a mixed-heritage family:

Lia's father, Rome Neal, came to New York City in the 1950s when he was a baby, part of the Great Migration. Lia's mother, Siu Neal, came to New York City from Hong Kong when she was 18 years old. Lia speaks fluent Cantonese and Mandarin and she is about to enter her senior year of high school. Congratulations, Lia Neal!

You can read a profile of Lia Neal and her family here: "Olympic Swimmer Neal Built Her Dream in Brooklyn" (The New York Times, July 15, 2012) and more about her Olympic win here: "After Bronze Medal Comes Senior Year" (The New York Times, July 28, 2012).