Although appearing in the Olympics was a goal to strive for, Natsumi Hoshi didn't expect that day would come this soon.

"If I could go, I thought it'd be London," the 17-year-old butterfly swimmer said, referring to the 2012 Summer Games.

Entering 2008, however, Hoshi, the youngest member of the Japan Olympic swim team, sprouted up like mushrooms after a rainstorm. And she realized she could seize the chance much sooner and at a much closer location — Beijing.