Lia Neal isn’t old enough to vote, but she’s already making history. The 17-year-old Brooklyn swimmer placed fourth in the 100-meter freestyle finals in Omaha, NB. That means she’s punched a ticket to the 2012 London Olympics. Neal is only the second African-American woman to make a U.S. Olympic Swim Team, and she’s one of three blacks to swim for the U.S. this year.

Neal already nabbed a gold medal in the 100 freestyle at the World Junior Championships. She hopes to return to her Flatbush neighborhood with another.