Biracial Prodigy Swimmer

On the front of the New York Times’ Sports Section, you’ll find a photo of Lia Neal, a 13-year-old who may become one of the youngest swimmers to qualify for the U.S.Olympic team.  Neal is the daughter of an African-American man and an Asian woman.  The Times reports: “Neal stands out . . . because of her deft strokes and her dark skin.”  I’m rooting for her, but hope that future stories about her won’t focus so much on her racial identity and needlessly compare her to Tiger Woods as “another biracial prodigy who blossomed in a mostly white sport.”