The superstitious Chinese believe the number eight represents good fortune, so it is not coincidental that the games kick off at 08.08.08pm on the eighth of the eighth month, 2008. It is a happy coincidence, however, that August 8 is also Hannah's 19th birthday.
Before she left for China, Hannah also celebrated a sponsorship deal from her dad's firm, Bristow.

The day after her birthday, Hannah performs her opening swim in the 400m individual medley, and says the reality of coming so close to achieving her ambition of winning Olympic gold is just beginning to dawn.

She said: "It was not until I got the Olympic kit that it clicked and it sank in – and I realised 'this is real and I'm actually going'.
"All my life I've been working up to this, I suppose. Along the way I've just found that I could target more and more. When I was younger I used to say 'I would like to go to the Olympic games'. And then it was 'I would like to win a gold medal'.

"It's quite bizarre how the years have gone by and I have got closer and closer towards those targets. I have got to one – now I have just got to get to the next one."

Bristow training pilot, Captain Patrick Miley, her father, is also part of the Olympic coaching team and coaches Hannah, who has been swimming since the age of three. Patrick, 47 has invented a pacing device to help Hannah regulate her stroke rate.

The electronic, programmable system is worn under the swimmer's cap and beats to control the rate of stroke, speed of arm movement and it also identifies a rest interval. The device has also been used to help patients with medical problems, including Parkinson's disease.

Patrick's group of swimmers include veteran Mark Foster, 38 who is competing in his record-breaking fifth Olympics.

Confessing that he was surprised to be selected along with his talented daughter, he said: "It's very exciting, but it's been quite a helter-skelter with lots of highs and lows. It's just Team Miley in our house at the moment!"

Mum Carmel and younger brother Alastair, 13, will be backing Hannah is Beijing, while back at home Bristow staff and crews will be cheering her on. The company, who is backing Hannah for a period of two years, has just handed over the first cheque to the value of £3,500.

Director of European Operation for Bristow Helicopters in Aberdeen, John Cloggie, said: "We are going to help her follow her swimming career over the next two years. She is launching off now with the Olympics, and at 18, it is an excellent start for her."

Hannah concluded: "I would like to thank Bristow because there is a lot of time spent on swimming and travelling costs and this will help a huge amount."