Hannah Wilson has been a woman without a country, at least in the eyes of the International Olympic Committee.

Like many of her fellow Cal swimmers, who will be heading off to Beijing in the next week for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wilson has faced her fair share of difficult challenges in being able to represent her home country.

But her story differs quite a bit from those of her teammates. One of Wilson's biggest challenges in making it to the Olympics has come from outside the pool.

Wilson was born to British parents in Hong Kong, making her a British citizen. She grew up in Hong Kong, went to school in Hong Kong. She considers Hong Kong her home.

But in 2004, the IOC nearly disallowed her appeal to swim for Hong Kong because she did not have an SAR passport for the territory.

Previously, the Hong Kong permanent ID card had been enough to satisfy eligibility requirements for the Olympics. But a rule change, which stated that an athlete must hold a passport for the country that they would like to represent, became an unexpected and nearly detrimental hurdle.

Wilson, who was only 14 at the time of the appeal, was not old enough to renounce her British citizenship. And to make matters worse, she could not swim for Great Britain because she had previously competed for Hong Kong in other international events.

"I was in no man's land," Wilson said.

In the end, Wilson was granted her appeal and allowed to represent her homeland at the Olympics. But Wilson -- only 15 years old at the time -- was unable to advance to the semifinals in the 100m freestyle in Athens.

Now 19, the overly modest phenom from Hong Kong -- where she already has four national records to her name -- is just looking forward to racing in Beijing, where she will take part in the 100m freestyle as well as the 100m butterfly.

"I feel a lot more confident this time around, I feel a lot more mature," Wilson said. "To me, I don't have any pressure because I know that I am not going to get a gold. I'm just going to bust it up and see what happens."

Wilson has spent the last year training extensively with arguably one of the best American swimmers going to Beijing in Natalie Coughlin. The two will face off in the 100m freestyle, although Wilson claims that she doesn't see herself posing a threat to Coughlin's path to the podium.

"It's amazing to train with her and then watch her go out and break a world record," Wilson said. "She's no real competition to me -- I'm nowhere near her ability. I'm going to go out there and do my best."

There is something to be said of an athlete who has the ability to compete in two Olympics inside of her teenage years and retains the humility that Wilson clearly possesses. And the fact that the returning Cal sophomore is just 19 means that her second Olympic appearance will likely not be her last.

"I'm just hoping to get a cheer out there," Wilson said. "I'm not there yet, 2012 is a more realistic goal. Just give me four more years."

Tags: