Jasmine Alkhaldi had no clue what the Olympics were all about when just beginning her swimming career in Manila. But, then, not many 7-year-olds do.

Yet Alkhaldi was sure of one thing. She wanted to reach the pinnacle of her sport, and that, if she believed her club coach, was competing in the Games.

“I didn’t grasp how big of a deal it was when I went up to my coach and asked what’s the best thing I can accomplish in this,” Alkhaldi said. “I’m sure I sounded really silly. My coach said the Olympics was the highest you can go.

“Right then it was, ‘I want to go to the Olympics.’ I didn’t even know what it was.”

The former University of Hawaii all-conference swimmer now has reached her childhood goal for a second time. The 23-year-old again will swim for her native Philippines in Rio de Janeiro, again the only female since the country only is allotted two slots (Jessie Khing Lacuna is the male swimmer for the second straight Games).

In London, Alkhaldi was 34th overall in the 100 freestyle, timed in 57.13 seconds in her preliminary heat, her lone swim. With a PR of 56.10 on her resume, the goal in Rio “is to swim more than once,” she said.

“Breaking 55 would mean I’d be top 20. I think mid-55 is realistic. It’s a whole different experience this time around. I know how to prepare, I know what to expect. That makes it a different Games for me.”

She was one of 12 athletes who walked Friday in the Opening Ceremony in the traditional barong. Also walking in the Philippine delegation was former UH associate head coach Jennifer Buffin, who will be Alkhaldi’s coach.

“I wasn’t with her in 2012, so I’m really looking forward to being with her,” said Buffin, recently hired as the women’s head coach at Oregon State. “During the past four years, we’ve established our relationship and formed our goals. I think the biggest thing she’s learned, as an athlete, is to enjoy the process, and we’ve worked really hard at that the past two years.

“She’s a very high-achieving athlete, is often very hard on herself. At this level, mental is huge. The focus has been on that mental component, taking every race and analyzing it. We’ve traveled a lot together internationally and that has added to our relationship. I’m really excited to be sharing this with her.”

The two left July 23 and will remain in Rio through Aug. 15. There are concerns about the Zika virus and general safety, but “we will be cautious of where we are if we leave the (Olympic athletes) village,” Buffin said. “There is a concern about Zika, but we will take precautions, bug spray, wear long sleeves.

“Our pool water will be clean, they’ve tented the warm-up pool, something they’ve added since doing their test events. We’ll be able to focus on the competition. The goal is to be better than four years ago, placing higher than London.”

There was an unexpected distraction in 2012 for Alkhaldi, whose father is Saudi Arabian. She has always identified with her birth country and Filipino heritage but, because of the last name, Alkhaldi became a target for those against Saudi women competing in the Olympics.

The London Games were the first time Saudi Arabia had female athletes — a Saudi-American in track, one national in judo — but both were criticized, particularly on social media, including the Twitter hashtag “ProstitutesoftheOlympics.” Alkhladi became included in the rants.

“Some were hating on me, hate messages mostly from males,” she said. “A lot of females from Saudi Arabia were touched, too … and I decided to ignore the haters and let my swimming speak for itself.

“I don’t have dual citizenship. I was representing the Philippines.”

And she will again this month, something Alkhaldi doesn’t take for granted.

“The older I am, the more unbelievable it is,” she said. “I didn’t really grasp how amazing it was to represent my country four years ago. I had just turned 19.

“Now, I really cherish it. I’ve met people along the way who have had the same dream, the same goals, but never reached them, never got to compete at the Olympics. We’re a third-world country, we don’t send many athletes. Once was amazing, but very few from the Philippines get to do it twice. It makes it even more special.”

It’s been quite the journey for Alkhaldi, who doesn’t rule out trying for a third Games in 2020 in Tokyo. While she graduated in May with a marketing degree, after 20 years in the pool, she knows it will be hard to change lanes.

Alkhaldi didn’t know how to swim when she jumped into a pool at age 3. Swimming lessons followed quickly after the near-drowning and “it was very apparent from that young age that I loved being in the water,” she said.

She nearly gave up the sport when she was 16 and at boarding school.

“I started to hate it more than I loved it, dreaded going to practice,” she said. “But I didn’t want to have wasted all those years and that dream of going to the Olympics kept me going.”

Getting a scholarship to UH was a huge factor as well. She quickly found success at multiple distances — 50, 100 and 200 free as well as relay events — capping her much-decorated career in 2015 as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Swimmer of the Year and Swimmer of the Championship Meet with three record-setting individual performances and four other golds in relays.

“I’m very competitive and this is a life style,” she said. “I strongly believe in the ideals of the Games and I’m grateful to be competing again.”