Another year older. Another year wiser. And hopefully another year faster, given my current surroundings. Spending my birthday in South Korea gearing up for the World Rowing Championships that kick off tomorrow (August 25th), makes for a memorable one.

While there were no cake and candles, I was lucky enough to have balloons and banners on my big day! Thanks to my teammates for making me feel like a special old lady.

I celebrated with a row and more race prep this morning. Oh, and it was college uni day! I managed to snag a Virginia top even though I didn’t row for UVa. Go Hoos!

I spent the afternoon resting and hanging out with my roommate and boat mate, Ellen Tomek. Fret not, I ended the day appropriately with a dining hall full of Americans, Germans, Brits and Aussies singing the “Happy Birthday” song.

August seems to be the popular month for National Team birthdays as there have been several celebrations in the short time that we’ve been here in Chungju as well as the days leading up to our trip. Other August babies include: Amanda Polk from the women’s eight (8/2), Will Daly from the men’s lightweight four (8/2), Lauren Schmetterling from the women’s eight (8/3), Katelin Snyder from the women’s eight (8/16); twin brothers Grant and Ross James from the men’s four and men’s eight respectively (8/17), Bryan Volpenhein, head coach of the men’s team (8/18), Zack Vlahos from the men’s eight (8/19), Megan Kalmoe from the women’s quad (8/21), and finally me, bringing the month of celebrations to a close on the 24th. Just in time for racing.

And finally, the Sunday draw came out! http://www.sportresult.com/federations/FISA/download/World_Rowing_Championships_Chungju,_Korea_SS_2013.08.25.cp.pdf

Racing starts tomorrow. Go USA!

Every Day Counts.