BIRKENFELD MOVES TO REHAB

PORTSMOUTH, RHODE ISLAND (September 10, 2002) – After a short stay at Oregon Health and Science University Hospital (OHSU), US Sailing Team member Kimberly Birkenfeld (Miami, Fla./Myrtle Creek, Ore.) has been discharged. While at OHSU, Birkenfeld had been working with a physical therapist and made progress in walking and speaking. She will now continue her recovery at the Rehabilitation Institute of Oregon (RIO) at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital (Portland, Oregon) where she will receive intensive physical, occupational, and speech therapy on a daily basis. Birkenfeld is the number one ranked Women’s Windsurfer on the 2002 US Sailing Team. She was injured in Greece on August 8 by a motorboat propeller while preparing for the Athens 2002 Regatta.

Further updates on Birkenfeld’s condition will be issued as her progress dictates.