VERMILLION, S.D.—Once South Dakota's 1,650-yard freestyle record holder, 1st Lt. Sara Holman's post-collegiate swimming career has landed her as the 2014 Air Force Athlete of the Year.
 
A native of Bloomington, Minn., Holman and her twin sister, Mary, arrived on campus in the fall of 2005. The Holman twins were recruited to South Dakota by former coach Ron Allen, but that fall was Jason Mahowald's first at the helm of the program.
 
"I didn't meet Jason until I got to campus," said Holman. "He was really nice and ended up being a great coach for the four years I swam there."
 
Holman swam at three North Central Conference meets and scored 139 total points for the Coyotes. South Dakota had a program-best conference finish of third place in 2007 and 2008. South Dakota became ineligible for post-season competition in 2008-09 as the Coyotes began the reclassification to Division I.
 
Holman broke the 1,650-yard freestyle record her junior year at the NCC Championships when she touched in at 17 minutes, 35.84 seconds for third. The time now ranks fourth in history and her 1,000-yard free time of 10:35.42 ranks fifth.
 
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in biology in May 2009, Holman enrolled in the University of Florida's microbiology graduate program. With a desire to continue swimming, she joined the Gators Swim Club's Masters team.
 
"While studying in Florida, I befriended a fellow graduate student, Erin, and she shared with me her experiences with the Air Force," said Holman. "She went to the academy for her undergraduate before coming to Florida for graduate school. Erin told me about how much she loved the Air Force lifestyle. She's the reason I became interested in it."
 
Near the completion of her master's degree, Holman began collecting the necessary documents and applied for Officer Training School (OTS) after graduation. After Holman completed OTS, she began duties at the Schriever Air Force Base outside of Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
Holman, with a background in biology and chemistry, was excited when she learned she would have the opportunity to pursue a career in space operations.
 
"When they initially asked me which jobs I was interested in, I ranked biologist or chemist at the top because I assumed that's what they would want me to do," said Holman. "I ranked space second. When I learned that I had been assigned to space I was actually really happy because I was excited to do something different outside of the lab."
 
Holman is an analyst for the global positioning system (GPS) satellites.
 
Upon her arrival at the base, Holman also joined the Colorado Masters Swimming Association. She practices with a team of approximately 40 swimmers. Holman finished fourth in the 800-meter freestyle after clocking 9:53.24 at the FINA World Masters Championships last year. She also set association records in the 800 freestyle and 200 backstroke events en route to being named the 2014 Air Force Athlete of the Year.
 
Holman does not plan to give up swimming anytime soon.
 
"I will probably swim for the rest of my life," said Holman. "Or at least as long as I can. I love it so much."
 
Holman's future plans include training for the 2015 FINA World Masters Championships this August in Kazan, Russia, as well as the 2015 Military World Games this October in Mungyeong, South Korea.