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The story of Shawn's boat – named after former Cal women's rower Shawn O'Donnell '04 – is one of tragedy, but also one of compassion, community and support.
 
O'Donnell was tragically killed in the summer of 2022 at the age of 40 when she was struck by a car while riding her bike on her way to work in Washington, D.C. This is a story about a community rallying together to make sure O'Donnell's legacy would not be forgotten.
 
O'Donnell got her start in collegiate rowing at Indiana University before transferring to Cal for her sophomore year and walking onto the team. A multi-sport athlete growing up in Danville, Calif., she fell in love with rowing right away after getting exposed to the sport through her dad, Brian O'Donnell, who was a standout rower and good enough to compete at the highly regarded Prince Henley Royal Regatta in England.
 
"She loved the discipline of having to put everything you have into something and going all out," her mother, Mary O'Donnell, said. "She also fell in love her crew sisters and had a very tight relationship with them."
 
O'Donnell rowed on Cal's third varsity eight boat that went on to win what was then called the Pacific Coast Championship in 2002. After that season, O'Donnell had to step away from the sport due to lingering injuries.
 
While O'Donnell only competed on Cal's rowing team for just one season, the impact she made on the team and her friends was immeasurable, and is a big reason why Shawn's boat came to fruition.
 
One of the people she made an impact on was teammate Anita Sarrett. The two met when O'Donnell joined the rowing team during her sophomore year in 2001. They both raced on the team's third varsity eight boat, with Sarrett serving as the boat's coxswain. Even though Sarrett was two years older than O'Donnell, they hit it off right away.
 
"We became friends right away," Sarrett said. "She was just very smart and an interesting person. In addition to being a really good athlete, she had a lot of interests outside of rowing. We really bonded over the fact we were both history majors."
 
When news of her tragedy quickly spread throughout O'Donnell's circle of friends, colleagues and teammates, Sarrett was one of the first to take action.
 
"Everyone was just in shock," Sarrett said. "Shawn had just turned 40 earlier in the month and was coming off summitting Mount Kilimanjaro. She was just so full of life and doing all these amazing things with her life, so it was a huge shock to get that news."
 
Former teammate Teresa Guthrie '04  immediately started a text group with O'Donnell's inner circle group of friends that is still going strong today. The group consisted of about 18 rowers from the classes of 2002 to 2006. They started sharing memories and a shared photo album with whatever pictures they could find.
 
Within that group thread came the question of what they could do to best honor O'Donnell and support her family. Those that lived close to Danville, where O'Donnell's parents lived, mobilized quickly and began to collect money and food to support her family. Other ideas that were kicked around included fundraising to donate to a bike safety organization in Washington, D.C., or Danville.
 
Having been a former high school rowing coach, Sarrett had an idea that she floated by the group – getting a boat named after O'Donnell. The idea immediately stuck with the group and O'Donnell's family rallied around honoring her this way.
 
"I was thinking that the thing that brought us all together was rowing," Sarrett said. "One of the greatest honors you can give someone in rowing is to name a boat after them. It's one of those really cool traditions. When you go to a regatta, you see all these boats and they all have a name on them and there is usually an interesting backstory behind the name."
 
The next call Sarrett made was to current Cal women's rowing head coach Al Acosta. The two talked about what would be required to get a boat created, how long it would take and how much it would cost. Acosta then directed Sarrett to work with Maggie Johnson from Cal's development office to help organize the fundraising efforts.
 
Sarrett joined forces with former teammates Guthrie, Hilary Martin Conboy '03, and Andrea McDermott '03 to form a fundraising committee with the goal of raising $50,000 for a brand-new racing shell that would be named after O'Donnell and given to the varsity eight boat for use in competition this season and beyond.
 
The group designed a website, www.ShawnsBoat.com, that told Shawn's story and help facilitate donations. It was no surprise to Sarrett that gifts came in rather quickly and from all across the globe. In total, over 250 gifts were given between O'Donnell's former teammates, friends and colleagues from as far away as Australia, along with donations from her community back home in Danville.
 
"I think it's a real testament both to who Shawn was and the connections and relationships she had with not just members of her class, but even with some of the girls we rode with that were a couple years younger," Sarrett said. "I think it's also a testament to the culture of the Cal rowing team and that sort of connection to each other, that even 20 years later, people showed up."
 
One of the more unique ways Mary fundraised was through a program called "Tips For Change" with local restaurant Gianni's Italian Bistro in nearby San Ramon. The program allowed friends of the O'Donnell family to serve as waitstaff and keep all the tips from the day, along with a 10% take of that day's sales, to go towards the fundraiser.
 
Mary believes so many people were quick to show up for Shawn because of O'Donnell's passion for helping people. She recalled a time when O'Donnell had a very high-paying job at Google but eventually quit. She told her mother it was because it wasn't her passion and she didn't feel like she was making a difference where it counted.
 
After leaving Google, Shawn took a job with Freedom House, a non-profit organization best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, political freedom and human rights. She traveled the world interviewing people in refugee camps before they were set to come to the United States.
 
In just three months of fundraising, almost $56,000 was raised, easily meeting the goal. In March, a boat christening ceremony was held by the team's practice facility in Orinda where Mary and other family members took the boat's maiden voyage out into the Briones Reservoir.
 
For Sarrett, Mary and everyone's lives whom O'Donnell touched, the boat will serve as a reminder of the impact she made on the water and to countless others worldwide.