“You need to fail before you can succeed, and that makes the successes even sweeter,” - Lea Neil Lea Neil said at the CeraVe Invitational her “failures” are become more prevalent, but it's not because she's swimming poorly. It's because she's leaving her comfort zone. In 2012, 17 year-old Lia Neal, of Brooklyn, New York became the second African American woman to make the US Olympic Team and earn a medal, winning a bronze in the women’s 400-meter freestyle relay. Neal was eight years-old when she was awarded a Swim for the Future scholarship, giving her the opportunity to join Asphalt Green’s competitive AGUA swim team. The scholarship was established in 2001 in honor of two Asphalt Green swimmers who died on September 11, 2001. Following fellow history maker, Cullen Jones onto the team, and preceding Anthony Ervin’s spot, Neal was part of the most diverse Olympic Team to-date. Neal, who is half black and half Chinese, also captured some history for Chinese Americans along with fellow swim star, Nathan Adrian who is half white and half Chinese. Neal has since accepted a scholarship to Stanford where she is currently a seven-time All American with four Stanford swimming records under her belt. http://www.usaswimming.org/ViewNewsArticle.aspx?TabId=0&itemid=7701&mid=14491 FUN FACTS HIGH SCHOOL Convent of Sacred Heart '13 COLLEGE Stanford '17 PARENTS Jerome and Siu...Jerome works in theatre and Siu is retired STARTED SWIMMING 6 yrs old..."My friends were taking lessons and suggested I join them." PET(S) One cat, Peanut, is about 6-7 years old HOBBIES OUTSIDE THE POOL Going to movies, restaurants, concerts Through the course of the high school swimming seasons we will starting a new weekly video session before practice: Olympic Wednesdays. On these Wednesday's the Senior and Age Group teams will watch videos on different Olympic Swimmers that show off a bit of their life, training, and background. |