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, she won a bronze medal in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.

Neal was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1995, the daughter of Jerome and Siu Neal. She attends the Convent of the Sacred Heart School in New York City and is a member of the club swim team Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics in Manhattan, New York. She is of African-American and Chinese descent.

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. 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.

In 2015, Neal became one of the first three African-Americans 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.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]