Throwback Thursday: Aline Nakashima turns 32

Rebecca Shore | Apr 2, 2014

Aline Nakashima in Tahiti, 2006 :: Stewart Shining/SI

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TWO-TIME SI Swimsuit model Aline Nakashima celebrates her 32nd birthday today, so why not send her a little birthday love by making her our Throwback Thursday honoree?

The world's first introduction to "Alina Nakashima: SI Swimsuit Model" came in 2006, when she opened the Rookie section with that stunning shot above.

From her Rookie Q&A:

AGE: 24BORN: São Jose dos Campos, BrazilLIVES IN: NYC and São PauloYOU CAN'T CLASSIFY ME BECAUSE . . . I'm half Brazilian and half-Japanese. I have the whole Brazilian thing down—I like to party—but I have an Asian side, [too].I'M GETTING INTO . . . basketball—the Lakers—but I love soccer. I can't wait until the World Cup Starts in June. Last time I got up in the middle of the night to watch. Go Brazil! [Ed note from the future: Brazil was eliminated in the quarterfinals.]I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT . . . chocolate. You'll always find some in my luggage.IF I WERE NOT A MODEL . . . I'd be a masseuse. I practice on my friends and beg them, "Let me do your back, please!"

The following year she would have a chance to celebrate her inner Brazilian party animal when SI Swimsuit brought her and six other Brazilian models home to pay tribute to the country (not to mention its proclivity for producing jaw-droppingly gorgeous women) with a shoot on the beaches of Bahia.

Today, Aline continues to do some modeling because you would too if you looked like this.

Here's a look back at her work with SI:

Tahiti, 2006 :: Stewart Shining/SI

Tahiti, 2006 :: Stewart Shining/SI

Tahiti, 2006 :: Stewart Shining/SI

Tahiti, 2006 :: Stewart Shining/SI

Brazil, 2007 :: J.R. Duran/SI

Brazil, 2007 :: J.R. Duran/SI

L to R: Raica Oliveira, Daniella Sarahyba, Ana Beatriz Barros, Ana Paula Araujo, Fernanda Tavares, Fernanda Motta, and Aline in Brazil, 2007 :: J.R. Duran/SI