FROM WATER TO FIRE
Olympic medalist, Ocean State native Elizabeth Beisel takes on ‘Survivor’
NORTH KINGSTOWN — Local viewers who tuned into the Season 39 premiere of “Survivor” probably noticed a familiar face on their screens, as former Olympian and Saunderstown native Elizabeth Beisel is a castaway on this year’s edition of the popular survival reality series, titled “Island of the Idols.”
For Beisel, whose been a fan of the show since its first season, in which Newport native Richard Hatch took home the title of “Sole Survivor,” being on the show fulfills both a long time dream and gives her the opportunity to compete and challenge herself again.
“I think (trying out for Survivor) was one of those things that I was like ‘yeah, I’m going to do this, I’m going to try it and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out,’ but there’s no harm in putting myself out there,” Beisel said.
A 2010 graduate of North Kingstown High School, Beisel had an illustrious swimming career, joining the US national swim team when she was only 13 and competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics at just 15. She went on to also compete at the 2012 London Olympics, where she won the silver medal in the 400-meter individual medley and bronze medal in the 200 meter backstroke, as well the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
She also four gold medals and three bronze medals
at the World Championships and Pan-Pacific Championships between 2007 and 2014 as well as nine Southeastern Conference (SEC) individual championships and the 2012 SEC Female Swimmer of the Year award while at the University of Florida.
Beisel retired from competitive swimming in 2018, but still possesses that same drive to compete and challenge herself, and decided to take on “Survivor” as her next challenge.
She is the third former Olympian to compete on “Survivor,” after former runner and 2004 Athens Olympics participant Crystal Cox in 2008 and former swimmer and 1988 Seoul Olympics participant Katrina Radke in 2017.
With years of training and competing at the highest levels of her sport, Beisel was able to draw on that experience to help prepare herself for the show.
“I tried to mimic that a little bit and see how I could fare against my normal self, and getting myself ready for ‘Survivor,’” Beisel said.
She believes her athleticism, loyalty and overall physical, mental and social strength will help carry her through and says while some may find her strong and positive personality “a bit too much,” that she also considers it a strength to both herself and her tribe.
Beisel is a member of the Lairo Tribe on this season, which features three other members with New England ties, including Warwick resident Aaron Meredith, while Providence resident Jamal Shipman is a member of the rival Vokai tribe. Overall, there are six castaways this year with a connection to New England, as well as both “Idols,” former castaways and champions with multiple appearance under their belt who are serving as mentors to this years’ cast, Stamford, Connecticut native Sandra Diaz-Twine and Hyde Park, Massachusetts native “Boston” Rob Mariano.
New Englanders have come away as the “Sole Survivor” seven times in the show’s history, and for Beisel, a reputation for people from this region may play a little into that.
“I think being from Rhode Island and New England itself, I think we’re known as a little bit of an abrasive breed,” Beisel said. “I don’t necessarily consider myself abrasive, but you deal with some people that might be a little bit tougher.”
At the end of the day though, Beisel says the biggest thing she loves about Rhode Island and Rhode Islanders is their support for one another.
“Being from Rhode Island, I think the coolest thing about it is that we’re a family and we’re a community and that when one Rhode Islander does something, the entire state gets behind that person,” Beisel said. “So for me growing up watching ‘Survivor’ and having Elisabeth Hasselbeck from Rhode Island and Richard Hatch and the likes of them and seeing how much support they received from the state, I was extra excited to go on ‘Survivor’ because I knew the state would be behind me.”
As for anyone else hoping to try out to compete on “Survivor,” Beisel has some simple advice: do it.
“Take that chance, take that leap, the worse that’s going to happen is they don’t get back to you and you can just try again every year,” Beisel said. “I think it’s really important for people to really branch out and do something that they didn’t think they could do, or at least try.”
“Survivor: Island of the Idols” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBS.