LOCAL HERO: Lia Neal shines along with her bronze in London yesterday. (Getty Images)
Bronze-medal swimmer Lia Neal (center) with (from left) brother Smile, dad Rome, mom Siu, and brothers Rome Kyn and Treasure. (
)
She’s Brooklyn’s finest.
Olympian Lia Neal, 17, swam into the history books yesterday as the American women’s freestyle 4×100 relay team captured a bronze.
The Fort Greene speed demon swam the third leg and, with teammates Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy and Allison Schmitt, finished less than a second behind first-place Australia and silver medalist Netherlands.
She performed well in a qualifying heat yesterday morning and landed the last of four coveted spots.
She is only the second African-American female swimmer to medal in the Games.
Neal’s tight-knit family was in the stands cheering for the Convent of the Sacred Heart HS senior, including her big brother, Rome Neal, who is a senior video Web producer at The Post.
Here is what he had to say about his little sis:
She’s bringing home a bronze to Brooklyn, but she is golden to us. It’s unbelievable that Lia is an Olympian.
Seeing her on the podium with a medal around her neck, I admit I was teary-eyed. She had a big smile on her face. I hope she saw us in the stands.
When she first came out even before the first swimmer in the relay team touched the water, even before it was her turn on the third leg of the race, we were yelling, “Go, Lia!” Now our throats are hoarse. But we are very happy. Ecstatic.
We think it was her best time yet. She held her own against some of the best swimmers in the world.
Earlier in the day, during the qualifier, we weren’t sure she was going to advance on to the medal rounds with the team, but I’m told her performance impressed the US coaches. We weren’t able to talk to her, but I’m glad she was able to help the US team get into a good position in the finals.
Even then, we were hoping our shouts would somehow push her faster. The Aquatic Centre was loud, probably because the English relay team was also in her heat, which is an advantage for all swimmers. The energy was infectious.
We look at her as our baby sister. I am 20 years older than Lia. My brothers, Smile and Treasure, are 19 and 15 years older, respectively.
She is the girl that my parents, Siu and Rome, always wanted, especially my mom. She was in a family that was all testosterone.
Even before Lia became an Olympian, we were really proud of her. People who know her would say she is funny and quick-witted.
She first started swimming when she was 6, and I had left home in Brooklyn by then. I remember at one of her first races. I told her I didn’t want to her to be afraid to be more than ordinary. If she feels like racing, she should race to win and not feel bad if she beats other people. Because when you are younger, you want to blend in with the crowd.
But she had the dream of being an Olympian. Up until then, swimming was never taken seriously in our family. We were from Brooklyn. We have a modest house between the Navy Yard and the BQE. I myself don’t swim that well; I can just tread water. No, I was never jealous of her talent.
My mom, who is Chinese, is a semiretired bookkeeper. She was the one who took her to meets, then school, and then to practice. She got scholarships and grants, and trained at the Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics, a Manhattan nonprofit, because people saw talent in my little sister.
When she made the US Olympic team earlier this month in Omaha, Neb., it was really close. Her qualifying time in the 100-meter freestyle was 54.33 seconds, only 100th of a second faster then the fifth-place finisher. But that has brought her here.
Now my wife, myself and our 15-month-old son, Rome Jin, my parents, and my brother Treasure and his family are here in London, too. We are staying in Waterloo, and everyone here is so friendly and there is a real excitement in the air.
Since Lia had to compete in the qualifier early yesterday she couldn’t march in the opening ceremonies on Friday. But that’s OK.
Lia is on an adventure and it’s only the beginning. After the Olympics, she finishes her senior year in high school. Colleges, like Berkeley, have already expressed interest in her. And she’ll have to decide if she wants to start training for the next Olympics.
No one in my family were great swimmers, and I doubt anyone in my family thought we’d have an Olympian in our house.
She will always be a better person than a swimmer.