Row, row, row your boat…all the way to London.

That’s what first-time U.S. Olympic rower Meghan Musnicki will be doing — but more figuratively than literally.

Musnicki, 29, will represent her country in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games held in London and will compete in the Women’s Eight rowing competition. The Unites States is the defending Olympic gold medalist in this event, so Musnicki and the team have high hopes to repeat.

Back on American shores, Musnicki has the unending support of her family. Her aunt, Maureen Maloy, has been the mailroom clerk for Diocese of Brooklyn for nearly 13 years. Maloy, a Bay Ridge resident, is a parishioner at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sunset Park.

“Words can’t describe how proud I am of her (Musnicki),” Maloy said. “They’ve worked so hard as a team and Meghan especially. She deserves it.”

To commemorate the experience, Maloy crocheted a beautiful red, white and blue blanket than adorns Musnicki’s bed.

“It’s gorgeous,” Musnicki said. “When I got it, I couldn’t believe that she made it.”

Maloy always e-mails, tweets or sends Facebook messages to her niece to find out about her race results. She’s looking forward to watching Musnicki’s Olympic races on television.

“It’s all small things that mean a lot,” Musnicki said. “Knowing that she’s (Maloy) always there and rooting for me and thinking of me just means the world to me. She’s wonderful.”

Musnicki, a native of Naples in upstate New York, began rowing in 2001 as a freshman at St. Laurence University, Canton, N.Y. Most Olympic athletes claim they’ve been playing their particular sport since basically birth, but that wasn’t the case for Musnicki.

She played basketball and soccer in high school and wanted to play basketball at St. Laurence. However, in what can now be considered a beneficial twist of fate, she happened to meet the school’s rowing coach while waiting outside of the basketball coach’s office. She was looking to try something new anyway, so she took up rowing.

After transferring to Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y., she was part of teams that won the DIII National Championships in 2004 and 2005 — marking the first time in DIII history that a school won back-to-back championship titles.

Almost as soon as the 2008 Beijing Olympics ended, the U.S. Women’s National Rowing Team sent out invites to training camp in Princeton, N.J., for the 2012 Olympics. Musnicki was invited with about 40 other women in hopes of securing one of 17 spots on the team.

The training process was grueling at times for Musnicki. The team worked out three to four times daily for six or sometimes seven days per week, all while keeping a “business as usual” mentality.

“It’s definitely a full-time job for us,” Musnicki said. “It’s a lot of work. We have to take care of our bodies.”

On June 22, Musnicki was informed that she had made the Olympic roster. She had rowed for the 2010, 2011 and 2012 national teams, but it was still a thrill to officially make the Olympic team. She immediately texted her Aunt Maureen.

“I was sitting at the reception desk giving the receptionist a break,” Maloy said. “I was going through my messages and I read it and I was like, ‘Oh my God this is so exciting!’ But I couldn’t scream though. They’ll think something happened.”

Though Maloy has followed her niece’s career closely, her sister and Musnicki’s mother, Gail, has been there for her daughter each step of the way. Gail has travelled the globe to watch her daughter compete and is currently in London with her daughter Jaime and a few other relatives cheering Meghan on. She will have prime seating right at the finish line as she hopes her daughter’s boat crosses first.

“I’m extremely proud of her,” said Gail, who is a parishioner at St. Januarius church in Naples. “This is well beyond my wildest dreams for her. She told me four years ago that she had her sights set on making these Olympics.”

Gail has provided Meghan with emotional and financial support as the latter chases her dream.

“I consider myself very lucky to have the kind of mom that I do,” Meghan said. “I can’t thank my mom enough. She’s awesome.”

Meghan left for London on July 16, so she and the team could adjust to the five-hour time difference and practice on the 2,000-meter course at Dorney Lake in Eton, Great Britain.

On the Women’s Eight boat, six of the nine team members (including the coxswain) are returning Olympians. The team is poised to defend its gold medal, and Meghan hopes to be part of that success. The U.S. Women’s Eight national team has been crowned World Rowing Champions the past six years.

Meghan described this year’s competitors as a “fast field,” with several countries in contention for the gold. “Whoever wins is going to need to have a great race,” Meghan said. “We’re excited to race and see how fast we can go as a boat.”

Either way, Meghan will have her family’s support, in the form of her mother cheering near the finish line and her aunt leading the charge on American soil.

“I guess you would say I’m her (Musnicki) No. 1 cheerleader,” Gail said.

But Aunt Maureen may jovially disagree with that.

“Just do the best you can and have fun,” Maloy told Meghan. “I would love for her to win gold, but as long as she enjoys what she’s doing, no matter what happens I’ll always be so proud of her.”

However, Meghan has a different mindset since heading across the Atlantic. “Going to the Olympics is not the end goal for me,” she said. “I want to win an Olympic gold medal, and that’s what my teammates and I are in this for. It is very exciting and we’re all honored to go to the Olympics to compete under the American flag for the United States, but we want to bring home a gold medal.”

The quest begins Sunday, July 29 with the opening race, which takes place at 6:50 a.m. EDT. If the team wins, it automatically advances to the medal race on Thursday, Aug. 2 at 7:30 a.m. EDT. If the team does not finish in first place in the first race, it goes to the elimination heat on Tuesday, July 31 at 5:50 a.m. EDT. The team would have to finish in the top-four to earn a spot in the Thursday medal race.

After the Olympics, Meghan has aspirations to attend nursing school to become a nurse practitioner. Her nursing scrubs would certainly look good with a gold medal around her neck.

Follow Meghan Musnicki on Twitter @MegMus.