Donohoe's Olympic Experience: Silver Medalist, Avatrice

KINGSTON, R.I. - They were Avatrice.

It has been 20 years since Rhode Island women's rowing coach Shelagh Donohoe (pictured above, far left) and her teammates – Cindy Eckert, Carol Feeney and Amy Fuller – formed the quartet that represented the United States in the women's straight 4 (coxless) event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

With the 2012 London Games set for opening ceremonies tomorrow, Donohoe took time to recall the experience of rowing with Eckert, Feeney and Fuller to the first American silver medal in the event.

So what was the meaning behind Avatrice, the name of their vessel, as chosen by the team members?

"'Gods who walk the Earth as women,'" Donohoe said, with a wry smile. "We had worked so hard that we felt pretty good about ourselves at that point."

They had plenty of reason to feel good. The U.S. team finished in a time of 6:31.86, just 1.01 seconds behind the gold-medal team from Canada. Donohoe called the race the most focused six minutes of her life.

"It's probably the most I have ever hurt in my life," Donohoe said. "I think, when you watch (rowing), you don't understand physically how exhausting it is. At that point, I felt like a machine. I was so trained, and I was at the peak of my performance.

"It was actually really neat, because that race was probably the best I have ever had. For that to come together at the pinnacle of your career, is pretty awesome."

They had battled through intense competition just to earn a spot on the American boat and were chosen for the country's top crew. In fact, it wasn't until July 5, 1992 – less than one month before the Olympic competition – that Donohoe learned she was going to be part of the group

Donohoe, who also has two world championship medals to her credit, had rowed with Eckert, now a teacher and mother of two in Boston, for three years prior to the Barcelona Games. Eckert now works as a physical therapist and is a mother of three. Fuller is the head coach at UCLA, so Donohoe gets to see her in competition from time to time.

"We've been through quite a bit together, so there will be a bond there forever," Donohoe said. "We saw the very highs of each other, and we saw the very lows of each other. You don't go through that with a lot of people."