Ted Beisel, center, is amid a crowd of supporters in Narragansett last night watching his daughter compete in the 200-meter backstroke final. Elizabeth Beisel, 15, finished in fifth place, out of medal contention.

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AP / Mark J. Terrill

NARRAGANSETT — She did not earn an Olympic medal, but 15-year-old Elizabeth Beisel earned the respect of her nation and home state last night as the North Kingstown girl finished in fifth place in the women’s 200-meter backstroke final.

Beisel, the youngest member of the United States Olympic swim team, faced off against the strongest swimmers in the world and missed gold by 3 seconds. It was her final race of the 2008 Olympics.

The world watched this week as the Rhode Island native — the American flag, and “Beisel” brightly displayed on her swim cap — adjusted her swim goggles, and before plunging into the Olympic pool, plunged into the zone.

The Elizabeth Zone. The zone that brought her to the 2008 Olympic games.

It was a long road to her second medal race.

First, she had to qualify by completing her preliminary heat of the 200-meter backstroke, which she did, with a time of 2:09.02, the sixth-best time out of 34 swimmers, competing in the round earlier in the week.

Then she had to advance to the semifinal round of the 200-meter backstroke. She did that, too, finishing first in her heat and second overall with a time of 2:07.90, a triumphant moment television viewers watched here Thursday night.

Then, last night, she swam with the best of the best in front of the world — and closer to home — in front of the dozens who watched on a 52-inch-wide TV set up by Verizon at Narragansett’s North Beach Clubhouse where Lions Club members held a fundraiser to support her family’s efforts to join Beisel in Beijing.

The overflow crowd at the clubhouse cheered the local favorite, waving American flags, as she raced across the Olympic pool.

It was clear early on in the race that she would not finish in the top three. Her father, who was surrounded by friends and extended family, guessed that a poor start was to blame.

Beisel’s final time was 2:08.23. The winner, Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry, finished with a world-record time of 2:05.24.

Beisel’s mother Joan and brother Danny traveled to Beijing last week while her father Ted remained in Rhode Island, watching her first Olympic event on Aug. 9 from Narragansett’s Twin Willows, surrounded by a supporting crowd, which included her grandparents, Milton and Gertrude Wolferseder of Bonnet Shores.

They were all there again last night, including her dad, this time wearing a shirt with American flag designs. Surrounded by crowds of supporting neighbors and friends, Ted Beisel said the last few weeks have been “unbelievable. I’m totally amazed by the support,” he said, noting letters of congratulations have arrived, some with $5 and $10 donations, one even from Alaska, he said, from people looking for a way to honor the Olympian.

Ted Beisel said he was especially proud of the way his daughter has been handling the pressure

“You worry about them, you know. It’s thrilling to say the least. I’m amazed at how calm she is.”

Television trucks lined the parking lot of the seaside building where food, much of it donated to the club for the event, sizzled outside on grills, and lined indoor tables. There was music, drawings, and lots of hand-shaking with the proud father.

Swimmers who knew Beisel as a child spoke of her early talents.

“Yup, she passed everyone by,” said Ashley Dentler of Narragansett, who as a member of the South County YMCA swim team remembered swim meets with Beisel.

“We were about 12, and she was 6, and she passed us all the time,” she said, conferring with Courtney Durkin of South Kingstown, another swimmer, who recalled the same hard-working young girl.

“She never rested,” Durkin said.

“And she’s even better at violin,” added Dentler.

Beisler’s Attleboro Bluefish Swim Club coach Chuck Batchelor was in Beijing during the games, coaching the girl he has known for years as she competed against the world’s best.

He watched, too, this week, as she was kidded by Olympic swim star Michael Phelps because she was sitting on his towel just before her qualifying heat, Batchelor said.

‘“Beisel, get off my towel,”’ Batchelor related of that moment, telling how the multiple gold medalist teased the North Kingstown High School junior, “with a big smile kind of thing.”

“But she’s not intimidated by anyone,” Batchelor said.

“She dissed him right back. It’s neat to see. She’s an equal.”

Batchelor, a lifelong swimmer and longtime coach, said having his student at the 2008 Olympics “was a little bit of a surprise,” that he expected her to be part of the games four years from now.

“That was the goal,” he said this week from Beijing.

“In a way, this was a practice run. Coming in fourth at the Olympics is absolutely incredible,” he said, in reference to her first event, the 400-meter individual medley.

“I couldn’t be more proud of her. I think it’s a really kind of an incredible emotional experience for her. You want to do well for your country. It’s so much about the medals at this point. I’m absolutely incredibly proud of her. Overall, the entire Olympic team is just so awesome.”

Batchelor said Beisel spent the week between events working out every day in the water, twice a day, every day. “Nothing too crazy. Oh yes, I’ve been there with her.”

He said he’s been home only a handful of days this summer because the journey started in June with the Olympic trials.

“But I can’t tell you how awesomely cool it is to be here,” he said from Beijing.

Meanwhile, in North Kingstown, signs are popping up with congratulatory notes to this hometown girl who turns 16 on Monday — the day she is to leave China —and who is scheduled to start her junior year at North Kingstown High School next week.

When Beisel was a freshman there, the school’s swim team captain, Brittany Olerio, recalled the excitement of having Beisel on their young team. She had heard about the young swimming sensation since they were both youngsters.

“You always heard about the little girl who swam really fast.”

Olerio, 19, who came in 10th overall this year in Rhode Island’s Save the Bay swim, notes that what sets Beisel apart from other athletes, in addition to her natural ability, is her calm approach.

“She appears stress-free.”

Olerio said she thinks it also helps that Beisel, while committed and dedicated to swimming, hasn’t lived on a steady water diet, recalling how they once discussed high school homecoming plans. Olerio also said she admires Beisel musical skills — she has been an All-State violinist — and wonders how she manages it all.

“She’s juggling so much. But she’s just so normal.”

Beisel’s high school swim coach, Jillian Oresman, has been following her Olympic team member on television.

“Just to watch the look on her face. She just looks so happy. It’s a dream come true.”