The greatest Olympic athlete from every U.S. state

Rhode Island: Elizabeth Beisel

Sport: Swimming

Olympics: Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016

One of the youngest members of the list at just 25 years old, Elizabeth Beisel has already appeared in three Olympics. She is still in search of the elusive gold medal but has been an excellent swimmer on every level she’s ever competed. She became a member of the United States national swim team at 13 years old and has represented her country well ever since.

Beisel saw her first World Championship competition at the age of 14 and turned all of her promise in the pool into a scholarship to the University of Florida. When she attended school, she became a decorated collegiate athlete. She totaled nine SEC(Southeastern Conference) individual titles as well as earning 18 All-American honors. Beisel went to the 2008 Games as the youngest member of the U.S. Swim team and even though she missed out on the medal stand, the experience gained was invaluable to her next appearances. She found her most success to this point in her career in the 2012 Games when Beisel captured a bronze and a silver medal. In the following two years, Beisel stayed in competitive swimming by entering the World Championships and the Pan Pacific games. She performed well at both events, leading into qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janerio. Beisel made the team but did not medal in any event.

Seeing as how Beisel is still very young, the door is more than open for future Olympic Games to try and finally capture that gold medal. Even if it never happens, Beisel has had a great swimming career already.

Honorable Mention: Janet Moreau, track and field in Helsinki 1952