Sarah Swanson joined the Summit League staff in August of 2023 after being named the assistant commissioner for sports, championships and student-athlete services. She will be the primary sport liaison for women's soccer, volleyball and softball, while also overseeing the League's diversity and inclusion, mental health and SAAC initiatives.
Swanson comes to Sioux Falls following a five-year stint at Upper Iowa where she quickly rose from a graduate assistant to senior associate athletic director. After her first year as a GA in 2018-19, Swanson was promoted to assistant athletic director for internal operations.
In September of 2021, she was named the Peacocks’ senior woman administrator and elevated to associate athletic director of internal operations.
During her time in Fayette, Swanson also served as the sport administrator for women’s basketball, softball, cheer and dance, shotgun sports, strength and conditioning and campus recreation.
She closed out her career at UI as the senior associate athletic director for external affairs where she assisted in areas of development, alumni relations, sponsorships, events and vendor contracts. This past spring, she served as the tournament director for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in Des Moines.
Swanson spent her first seven years out of college directing parks and recreation departments for the cities of Newton and Garner in Iowa. She was responsible for organizing all youth and adult programming in those cities.
Swanson was a two-sport student-athlete at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa where she played basketball and softball for the Warriors. She earned a bachelor’s degree in physical and health education with a minor in exercise science in 2010 and a master of sport administration from Upper Iowa in 2020.
