Lia Neal, Olympic Swimmer

Lia Neal, Olympic Swimmer 1.30.13

Last Wednesday I watched a bit of the Australian Open quarterfinals. Sloane Stephens, a 19-year-old American who was seeded 29th, upset her idol, Serena Williams, a 15-time major winner, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Sloane was very emotional during her post-match television interview, still in disbelief that she had defeated her idol. She was suddenly a celebrity because she beat a celebrity, the tennis icon whose poster she hung on her bedroom wall as a child.

The match was fun to watch. Both were brilliant.  Both were fierce competitors. Both also happened to be African-American. 

As a mom, I am always grateful for excellent role models up to whome young female athletes can aspire, regardless of their race. It is important for my three daughters, who are half-Filipino and half-Polish, to know that great success in sports -- and in life -- demands unwavering commitment, as possessed by Lia and other champions, and transcends the color of your skin.

During the Martin Luther King holiday last weekend, my kids got to meet another outstanding athlete at the 3-day MLK invitational swim meet at AGUA (Asphalt Green Unified Athletics) on the Upper East Side in Manhattan:  Lia Neal, the 18-year-old Olympic bronze medalist in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

My three daughters -- Charista, 12, and twins Tatiana and Angelica, 9 -- swim year-round for the USA swim league, and were racing, although meeting Lia was a highlight of the MLK meet. If you recall, Lia swam the 4 X 100m freestyle relay with Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy and Allison Schmitt and is revered by my girls and practically all female swimmers in New York City. 

Polite and well-spoken, Lia obliged countless requests for pictures, even though she herself wasn't picture-perfect, having just swum in the senior division races earlier that morning.  She graciously shook hands and signed autographs for her star-struck fans, who asked her where she lived (Brooklyn), where she went to high school (Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan), and what her background was (half-African-American and half-Chinese). 

I love that my three daughters, Half-Filipino and Half-Polish (and 100% American!), have male and female athletes of all races to look up to. What an inspiration they are to all student-athletes everywhere, who get to see that hard work and a never-give-up attitude pay off.

However, it is undeniable that certain sports today are dominated by certain races. Recent studies by USA Swimming estimate that up to 70% of African-American children don't know how to swim. In fact, Neal was only the second woman of African-American descent to ever make the US Women's Olympic Swim Team. As a soccer, basketball, and swim mom, I am glad to see first-hand that this is slowly starting to change.

Still, so many sports have been resistant to inclusion for all races in the United States, the land of opportunity, where everything should be available to everyone, if you have the talent and the drive Certainly, there are exceptions -- notably in the London Olympics, where the US swimming team had three African-Americans and the gymnastics team had two -- but not enough.

The unfortunate reality is that rewards and opportunities in sports like golf, tennis and swimming are only readily available to middle to upper class children.  It is a widespread stereotype that African-Americans dominate basketball, Latinos excel in soccer and baseball, and whites and Asians have golf and tennis cornered. Why is that?

Personally, as the middle daughter of immigrant parents who was fortunate to grow up emotionally rich but financially poor, I'm the first to admit I can barely swim more than 50m because I didn't have access as a youngster, nor had I ever picked up a golf club or tennis racket until just five years ago, as a middle-aged Asian-American female dentist.

It is very sad to me that children of parents who fall within lower socioeconomic strata do not have access to expensive equipment and facilities and disposable financial resources for costly lessons and travel in sports like swimming, tennis, and golf. They excel in sports, like baseball, soccer or basketball, for example, because all you need to play those games is a ball, a goal, and a field.

This is not to say inner-city youth are never exposed to these "country club" sports, because they are. After all, there is a fast-growing number of minority groups enjoying great prosperity in the United States.

However, it is clear that long-term interest in these sports in urban areas has not been sustainable.  Inner city youths cannot excel because of the absence of tradition or historical success, not to mention the lack of parental interest or community support for that matter. 

Funding in urban communities to support programs for these sports is also an issue. Big bucks are needed to pay for expensive equipement, lessons and facilities.  Luckily, there are scholarships and monies available for swimmers or golfers or tennis players who possess raw talent and the desire to develop, thus closing the gap between the disparity of the polar ends of the socioeconomic strata.

As a matter of fact, AGUA, for which Lia Neal swam, is a nonprofit whose mission is to help people achieve health through sports and fitness programs.  AGUA helped finance Lea's training. And in the summer, many have enjoyed in recent years, the free tennis and golf lessons offered by the NYC Parks Department. 

It used to be there were no athletes in "country club" sports for inner-city kids to look up to; that is, until break-through champions came along: Tiger Woods in golf, Venus and Serena Williams and Arthur Ashe in tennis, and Gabriella Douglas, the first black gymnast to win the individual women's Olympic title in the 2012 Olympics in London.

That said, you can imagine how excited my daughters and their friends were to meet Lia Neal, in person, on the deck of the swimming pool that they, too, compete in. She is a true inspiration for the younger generation.

After all, Lia Neal, like all the other athletes who have broken through barriers and became champions in sports that have been dominated by white athletes for generations, represents excellence in a sport my children love.  More importantly, she represents the American spirit that anything is possible if you dream it, believe it, and work for it.

What's better to instill in your children than that?