Sarah Mergenthaler was born on April 21, 1979 in Red Bank, New Jersey. Introduced to the sport by her father, she began sailing at age 7, progressed to racing Optimists by age 9 and then Lasers at age 15. In addition to 470's, Sarah also crews on Lightnings.
Mergenthaler attended Marlboro High School, Marlboro, NJ from 1993-1997. Here, she competed on the varsity cross-country, basketball, track and soccer teams, garnering all-district, all-conference and all-state recognition. She also became the first female in New Jersey to convert a field goal in a varsity football game while place-kicking for Marlboro. Sarah is the only athlete in district history to varsity-letter in five different sports.
Although Sarah continued to sail in local regattas throughout high school, she focused primarily on soccer with the goal of playing for a Division I team in college. She was a member of the New Jersey State Select Soccer Team from 1991-1998 and was selected to attend the Region I Olympic Development Training Camp from 1993-1998. Upon graduating from high school, Mergenthaler was named "Female Athlete of the Year," by the News Transcript, NJSIAA Outstanding Senior Athlete, Windmill Athlete of the Year, Women's Sports Foundation Athlete of the Year and ESPN Outstanding Senior Athlete.
In the fall of 1997, Sarah started attending the University of Richmond. During the summers off from school, she taught sailing at the Barnegat Light Yacht Club and played for the New Jersey Splash, a women's semi-pro soccer team. During the summer of 2000, Sarah was head instructor at BLYC. At the University of Richmond, Sarah was a scholarship athlete for the nationally-ranked soccer team and threw the javelin for the track team. She was two-time conference champion in the javelin throw and currently holds the school record in the event. In the Spring of 2000, Mergenthaler was awarded the Fannie Crenshaw Scholarship for excellence in the classroom and in athletics.
Mergenthaler graduated from the University of Richmond in 2001 with a double major in Business Administration and Sport Management and a minor in Marketing. upon graduating she took a position with a money management firm for 4 years. Now Sarah sails full time and gives sailing lessons in her spare time.