Catholic Tablet salutes Olympian Lia Neal for her discipline and faith

August 15, 2012 By Francesca Norsen Tate, Religion Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

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The Tablet, Brooklyn’s Roman Catholic newspaper, featured local Olympic bronze medalist Lia Neal in last week’s edition.

Neal, taking part in her first-ever Olympiad, was on the women’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay team that won a bronze medal July 28 at the London Aquatics Centre. The 17-year-old swam the third leg of the race.

Lia Neal and her family are parishioners at St. Saviour parish, Park Slope. She was baptized at Sacred Heart Church on Adelphi St., which is now part of Mary of Nazareth parish, Fort Greene. She attends Convent of the Sacred Heart H.S. in Manhattan.

She began her swimming career at age six when she started taking lessons while a student at Transfiguration, a private Catholic school in Chinatown. Two years later, she joined the Asphalt Green fitness center on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, where she began to swim competitively.

She earned a spot on her high school team at Sacred Heart.

In the Tablet article by Jim Mancari, she thanked her teachers and classmates for their steadfast support.