From left, Katie Marshall and Alison Rotondo, both of Cumberland, and Shannon Bender, of Lincoln, have competed at swim meets with Elizabeth Beisel.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

NORTH ATTLEBORO — The day after Rhode Island’s own Elizabeth Beisel finished fourth in the Olympic 400-meter individual medley, Alison Rotondo, of Cumberland, dived into the pool at the Abbott Run Valley Club and swam laps with a little sharper focus. The extra effort won’t get her to London for the 2012 Games, but it might help when she swims for Plymouth State University, in New Hampshire, next winter.

Call it the Beisel Buzz. Teens who train with the 15-year-old (who turns 16 on Monday) from North Kingstown still can’t believe that the girl they swim laps with in the Attleboro High School pool is in Beijing, her name flashed prominently on television.

“It’s weird that your teammate could be at the level that you wish you could be at,” said Shannon Bender, a Lincoln High School junior who will turn 16 a week after Beisel.

And little girls who swim for Abbott Run in the summer are dreaming Olympic dreams these nights.

“I practice I’m Elizabeth, or Michael Phelps,” said Lauren Sheehan, a 7-year-old second grader at the Community School, in Cumberland, who obviously admires local heroines and world-record holders.

The club swim season is over, but the youngsters who raced for Abbott Run, Seekonk, Kenbrin and other pools are still talking about Beisel and her performance in the 400 individual medley on Sunday and her advance yesterday to the semifinals of the 200-meter backstroke. So are the high school and college swimmers who patrol pool decks as lifeguards.

“It recharges them and gets them excited,” said Catherine Servant, head coach at Abbott Run and assistant coach at Bishop Feehan High School, in Attleboro.

Beisel’s peers are blown away by what she has accomplished.

“Unreal,” said Rotondo, a sophomore at Plymouth State. “We always knew she was serious, but I didn’t expect this.”

“She’s only 15,” Bender exclaimed.

“She was always determined. She never wants to lose,” added Katie Marshall, of Cumberland, a sophomore swimmer at Sacred Heart University, in Fairfield, Conn.

Rotondo, Bender and Marshall, all lifeguards at Abbott Run, swam with Beisel as members of the Attleboro Bluefish Swim Club. They praised her dedication in coming from North Kingstown for morning workouts before school and came to consider her their friend.

“Out of the pool, she’s bubbly and enthusiastic and seems lackadaisical,” Bender said. “In the pool, she’s serious. She doesn’t take bathroom breaks like the rest of us.”

During the Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb., last month, they wondered if Beisel would make the team. She surprised her friends with a second-place finish in the 400 individual medley. Her second place in the 200-meter backstroke was less surprising because the backstroke is her strength.

“At age 15 she was going to Beijing,” Rotondo said, shaking her head.

“It’s kind of weird knowing she’s that good, and I practice with her every day,” Bender added.

“I swam laps with her for years,” Marshall said.

When Beisel posted the fastest time in the 400 individual medley preliminaries, the Beisel Buzz grew louder.

“It was amazing that she was seeded first for the final,” Marshall said.

But Stephanie Rice, of Australia, finished first, Kirsty Coventry, of Zimbabwe, second, and Katie Hoff, of the United States, third.

“She can still say she finished fourth,” Marshall said.

“I can only imagine what will happen in the next Olympics,” Rotondo added.

Despite their age, the younger swimmers at Abbott Run have some idea of the work Beisel turned in to get to Beijing.

“She probably practices every single day, every morning nonstop,” said Meaghan Bessette, 12, a seventh grader at North Cumberland Middle School.

“She was probably so determined to go to the Olympics that she practiced so hard, probably two hours a day,” said Liam McLaughlin, 12, of North Attleboro, a seventh grader at Mercymount Country Day School, in Cumberland. “Going to the Olympics and coming in fourth, she must have been so happy. Knowing that everyone back here in New England was cheering her on must have given her more courage. And becoming so famous so fast, she probably can’t believe it.”

They may practice a fraction of the time Beisel spends in the pool, but they can imagine themselves in her place.

“It would be really cool. I would have to practice every day for a long time and get up really early. I think you have to be positive, and if you believe in yourself, you can do really well,” said Rachel Grady, 8, a third grader at the Community School.

“She works so hard, and you work so hard that you wish it could be you, and it can if you try,” Maggie Lynch, a North Cumberland Middle School sixth grader, said. Classmate Mikaela Grady agreed.

“When you see someone like her, it makes the point that anything is possible, if you put your mind to it. It really makes you want it. It gives me the idea that maybe I should start practicing more,” she said.

They know the strokes, if not the distance, that Beisel swims. Erin McLaughlin, 8, Liam’s sister, is a budding backstroker.

“It’s not that hard,” she said. “You just have to kick your legs hard, keep your arms back with your thumbs up and pinkies in and keep your head looking at the sky,” she said.

And how do you know when to turn?

“You count your strokes from the last flag you see over your head,” she said.

Liam McLaughlin swims the individual medley at 100 yards.

“It’s tough. You have to keep thinking you can do it. You want to stop in the middle because you get so tired, but if you practice and know in your head you can do it, you can.”

Servant, the swim coach, knows Beisel from those early-morning workouts at Attleboro High and believes her story can serve as a model for kids like those at Abbot Run.

“You don’t have to be from an amazing place, a gigantic swim club or some powerhouse. You can just grind it out. Even if it just excites them and they’re happy, hopefully it will carry over to any sport they do,” she said. “The Olympics are wonderful to inspire them to do the best they can and see what hard work can get you. Maybe it’s not an Olympic medal for them. Maybe it’s an all-pool medal.”

Of course, there’s always the possibility that another Elizabeth Beisel is at Servant’s morning stroke clinic or evening swims.

“Absolutely. I see emerging talent here,” she said with a grin.

mszostak@projo.com