Women's Rowing

The 2011-12 season marks head coach Shelagh Donohoe's sixth year with the Rhode Island rowing program.

In 2010, Donohoe guided the Rams to their second Atlantic 10 Championship in three years. In addition, to the Rams' team championship, Donohoe was named Coach of the Year for the third time in her career. Following the Rams' 2010 Atlantic 10 Championship, Rhode Island earned a No. 6 ranking in the New England region, which marked the first time in school history URI had been ranked in the New England region. Donohoe believes that success in the A-10 is a stepping stone in the journey to national success.

Prior to coaching at URI, Donohoe spent 10 successful years coaching at Northeastern University. She was part of the coaching staff which saw the Huskies earn invites to four NCAA Championships.

Named New England Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004, she has previously served as an assistant at both Boston University and Harvard. In addition, she coached the U.S. Junior Women's National Team in 1994, where the team rowed at the Junior World Championships in Munich, Germany.

Donohoe has an extensive rowing history of her own. A member of the U.S. National Rowing team from 1989-92, she competed in three World Championships (1989 in Bled, Yugoslavia; 1990 in Tasmania, Australia; and 1991 in Vienna, Austria) and the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

At the 1992 Olympics, she earned a silver medal as a member of the USA's four-without team. She also won silver medals at the 1990 (women's eight) 1991 (women's four without) World Championships.

A 1988 graduate of University of Massachusetts-Lowell with a degree in business administration, Donohoe was the first member of the rowing team inducted into the UMass Lowell Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.

DONOHOE'S COACHING HIGHLIGHTS

- Directed Rhody to the Atlantic 10 championship in 2008 and 2010.
- Selected as the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year in 2007, 2008 and 2010.
- Coached 26 All-Atlantic 10 First Team and four All-Atlantic 10 Second Team student-athletes.
- Guided four of her student-athletes to CRCA All-New England Region honors.
- In the classroom, 22 of her student-athletes have received National Scholar-Athlete recognition.
- Since the fall of 2006, the team has achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or above.

Updated Sept. 22, 2011