As a coxswain, Whipple stands 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) and weighs in at 108 lb (49 kg).

[2] As a freshman at the University of Washington, Mary coxed the women's varsity four to a national title in 1999.

She coxed the varsity eight to victory at the Henley Royal Regatta in 2000, taking home the first-ever Henley Prize, while also coxing them to a silver medal in the NCAA championships as part of a second-place finish in the team standings that year.

In 2001 and 2002, Mary coxed the varsity eight to back-to-back NCAA championships, and the Huskies also took home the team title in 2001.

Sarah was an assistant coach for Women's Crew at the University of California at Berkeley[3] and is now the Varsity Women's Head Coach at Capital Crew in Sacramento, California and has led the team to several US Rowing Regional and National Championship regattas.