Sandra was born in Walnut Creek, California, and grew up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She started swimming after Janet Evans’ Olympic performance in Seoul against the East Germans.

After trying a local 5 mile lake swim, she knew that she was much better suited for open water rather than the constraints of the pool. Sandra went to, and swam, at Eden Prairie High School. She attended the University of Northern Iowa and St. Cloud State University, studying environmental studies and water treatment.

Sandra decided to make it her goal to become a professional athlete after attending an open water safety conference in 2011 and learning about the FINA World Marathon and Ultramarathon series. Specifically, the famed Traversee Internationale Du Lac St. Jean 32KM Crossing.

Since 2012, Sandra has completed over 38 swims of 10km or longer. Her first swim of 10km or more came at the 27 mile edition of END-WET in 2012. Since then, Sandra has completed the 36 mile/58km version of END-WET 4 consecutive times. Winning overall each time.

Sandra accomplished her dream of becoming a professional swimmer in 2018 with 2 FINA Marathon Series 10km races in Canada. She reached her other goal of completing the famed Traversee Internationale du lac St. Jean swim in 2019, along with another famed Ultramarathon, the 54th edition of The Maratono Del Golfo Capri Napoli, a 36 KM swim from the Island of Capri to Naples, Italy.