Where Are They Now ... With Carlos Almeida
May 29, 2020 | Swimming & Diving
UofL's first NCAA Champion and Olympian for Portugal is using his competitive drive in sales
Watch the Podcast here!!!Â
Louisville, Ky – In this week's episode of Where Are They Now, swimming and diving assistant coach Kameron Chastain caught up with Cardinal Forever and 2012 graduate Carlos Almeida about his path to Louisville and what he is doing today.
Â
"I didn't pick Louisville. Louisville ended up picking me, Arthur ended up picking me. That's why I say I was just lucky. I'm nothing but lucky because I know other international athletes who that kind of had a similar path that I had and they ended up in different schools and they weren't really the best schools for them. "For me it was the compete opposite," Almeida said of how appreciative he is for the opportunities UofL has provided him.
Â
A native of Portugal, Carlos knew he always wanted to be a swimmer. The idea to swim in college in the U.S. came from former teammate and childhood friend Pedro Oliveira, another . "A lot of props go to Pedro," Almeida said, "he put a bug in my head and said 'we have to go, we can't stay in Portugal, we can't our studies done and pursue the careers we want in swimming." From there, the two sent emails to with resumes and swim times to their top 20 schools in hopes of finding a way into college swimming. "Arthur (Albiero) reached out and said we would love to have you in our program," Carlos said and so they moved forward with the process and ended up at UofL.
Â
At UofL, Almeida saw himself transform from a freshman learning how to live life in college to an NCAA champion. In Portugal, Carlos swam mostly long course and had to face the challenge of adjusting to short course swimming in college.
"I never really focused on the little details when I was in Portugal so it was a big change to come in and have to do really specific things to improve my turns," he said.
After graduating from UofL, he continued to swim professionally for two years before leaving the sport. He then moved on to work for Enterprise for almost two years when he realized he wanted to work in sales. From Enterprise, he jumped on a smaller, private company called Strategic Marketing out of Louisville selling marketing platforms to dealerships. Currently, Carlos is working in business to business sales for Cintas, focusing mainly on uniform sales.
"I like sales because it is very similar to why I liked UofL swimming," he said, "you have your team and those big goals, but you are also your own individual with your own goals."
Â
For Carlos, he will always remember winning from his time at UofL, but he says he remembers more times that he was struggling in practice than times he was doing well. Some of the things he remembers most are the Iron Cardinal weeks which he enjoyed and being in Syracuse and watching the men's basketball team beat them in their last game in their old arena. His message to the team during these difficult times is similar to most alumni.
He said, "Don't take it for granted. Don't forget, if you were recruited it's because you were worth the time to the coaches and they see something in you that you probably don't see in yourself yet. There are a lot of other swimmers who want to be in your shoes right now. Just enjoy it."
Â
Louisville, Ky – In this week's episode of Where Are They Now, swimming and diving assistant coach Kameron Chastain caught up with Cardinal Forever and 2012 graduate Carlos Almeida about his path to Louisville and what he is doing today.
Â
"I didn't pick Louisville. Louisville ended up picking me, Arthur ended up picking me. That's why I say I was just lucky. I'm nothing but lucky because I know other international athletes who that kind of had a similar path that I had and they ended up in different schools and they weren't really the best schools for them. "For me it was the compete opposite," Almeida said of how appreciative he is for the opportunities UofL has provided him.
Â
A native of Portugal, Carlos knew he always wanted to be a swimmer. The idea to swim in college in the U.S. came from former teammate and childhood friend Pedro Oliveira, another . "A lot of props go to Pedro," Almeida said, "he put a bug in my head and said 'we have to go, we can't stay in Portugal, we can't our studies done and pursue the careers we want in swimming." From there, the two sent emails to with resumes and swim times to their top 20 schools in hopes of finding a way into college swimming. "Arthur (Albiero) reached out and said we would love to have you in our program," Carlos said and so they moved forward with the process and ended up at UofL.
Â
At UofL, Almeida saw himself transform from a freshman learning how to live life in college to an NCAA champion. In Portugal, Carlos swam mostly long course and had to face the challenge of adjusting to short course swimming in college.
"I never really focused on the little details when I was in Portugal so it was a big change to come in and have to do really specific things to improve my turns," he said.
After graduating from UofL, he continued to swim professionally for two years before leaving the sport. He then moved on to work for Enterprise for almost two years when he realized he wanted to work in sales. From Enterprise, he jumped on a smaller, private company called Strategic Marketing out of Louisville selling marketing platforms to dealerships. Currently, Carlos is working in business to business sales for Cintas, focusing mainly on uniform sales.
"I like sales because it is very similar to why I liked UofL swimming," he said, "you have your team and those big goals, but you are also your own individual with your own goals."
Â
For Carlos, he will always remember winning from his time at UofL, but he says he remembers more times that he was struggling in practice than times he was doing well. Some of the things he remembers most are the Iron Cardinal weeks which he enjoyed and being in Syracuse and watching the men's basketball team beat them in their last game in their old arena. His message to the team during these difficult times is similar to most alumni.
He said, "Don't take it for granted. Don't forget, if you were recruited it's because you were worth the time to the coaches and they see something in you that you probably don't see in yourself yet. There are a lot of other swimmers who want to be in your shoes right now. Just enjoy it."
Â
Arthur Albiero Swim & Dive Press Conference 02.12.25
Friday, May 16
NCAA Diving Zones - Zone C Day 3
Saturday, March 16
NCAA Diving Zones - Zone C Day 2
Friday, March 15
NCAA Diving Zones - Zone C Day 1
Thursday, March 14
