Where Are They Now ... With Andrea Cottrell

Louisville, Ky – In the seventh installment of Where Are They Now, swimming and diving assistant coach Kameron Chastain spoke with Cardinal Forever and 2017 graduate Andrea Cottrell about her growth as a swimmer and what she is doing today.

"Louisville is such a special place and it will forever hold a special place in my heart." Andrea said of her time at Louisville.

Before coming to UofL, Cottrell had to take two visits to really understand what the difference was which she pegs to the coaching staff and the team dynamic. Coming to UofL, her times were not quite to the standard the team sees today, but she worked hard and dropped them immediately in her freshmen year, going from 1:02.9 to 0:59. She continued to work harder and harder and grow as a swimmer and ended her career as an ACC Champion and school record-holder. She was also a part of the conference switch from the AAC to the ACC which she says was a huge change for the culture and Louisville swimming in general.

After graduating from Louisville in May 2018, Andrea started nursing school at Ohio State in June of 2018 and just graduated in December of 2019. While in nursing school, she decided to take on the extra challenge of working as a full-time nursing assistant.

She said, "I didn't want to just go to school, I kind of wanted to make it harder for myself. I feel like, truly, I wouldn't have been able to do that if I didn't swim and also go to school at the same time."

In January, Cottrell decided to get into nursing full time before the pandemic hit in February.

"Work is different because they can only have one parent at a time. We have to wear goggles and masks all the time. We still take care of 2-3 babies at a time but the only thing that's really changed is when there is a COVID mom that has to deliver the protocols are a little different, we have to movie other babies away from them and kind of seclude that one baby," Andrea said of how the neonatal ICU is adapting and working around COVID-19. "I feel really blessed to not be really affected by it. Luckily it hasn't changed a whole bunch for us."

As most alumni say, Andrea remembers team accomplishments more than her own. Some of the memories that come to mind for her are being on the relay team to win second in NCAAs, watching Kelsi (Worrell) win NCAA, and the crowd and her teammates celebrating.

"I think Louisville does an outstanding job of the coaches trusting the swimmers and the swimmers trusting the coaches," she says of what's important in swimming for a team opposed to swimming for yourself. Another special memory of hers was swimming in US National finals with Kelsi as one of the few American finalists from UofL and celebrating together in their hotel room after making it to the finals.

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Andrea Cottrell

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