UWEC Athletics Hall of Fame
Sara Shimanski won nine individual conference titles and was on 12 gold-medal-winning relay teams. She was a seven-time NCAA First Team All-American with her best finish being a fourth in the 100 freestyle in 1995. Shimanski, who prepped at Hutchinson High School in Minnesota, is the only conference female swimmer to have won four consecutive 100-yard freestyle events. She also won the 200 freestyle three straight years and the 50 freestyle twice. When she left Eau Claire, she had her name etched on the school record book for the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle plus the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and the 200 and 400 medley relays. Shimanski was named team Most Valuable swimmer all four years at Eau Claire. Shimanski was a seven-time First Team All-American with three top eight individual finishes. Her best was a fourth in the 100 freestyle at the 1995 NCAA Division III championships when the Blugolds placed sixth as a team. She was also honorable mention All-American with seven places between 9th and 16th place including five individual events.
Shimanski graduated from UWEC in 1997. She obtained her teaching credential in 2011 and expected to complete her master’s in Curriculum and Instruction in spring, 2012. She was a logistics coordinator for Marilyn Burns Education Associates in Sausalito, California from 1998 to 2000. From 2000-2011, she served as the Director of Operations for the School of Health & Natural Sciences at Dominican University. She was a recipient of the 2005 Sr. George de Lorimier Award which is given annually to an outstanding Dominican University of California staff member for dedication and service to the campus community. In the fall of 2012, she will transition careers to become a elementary school teacher in Napa, California. At the time of her induction, she and her husband Dominic, a former Blugold swimmer, were parents of two children.
