Carlos Fernandes Esteves de Almeida (also ''Carlos Almeida'', born 4 August 1988) is a Portuguese swimmer, who specializes in breaststroke events. He is a two-time Olympian, an NCAA Champion, a 2011 Big East Conference champion, and a current Portuguese record holder in the 50, 100 and 200 m breaststroke in the long and short course. Almeida is a resident athlete for Amadora Swimming Club in Lisbon ( pt, Clube de Natação da Amadora), and is coached and trained by Filipe Coelho.
Almeida made his official debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, where he competed in the men's 200 m breaststroke. He cleared a FINA B-cut of 2:15.00 from the Dutch Open in
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,2012 Summer Olympics in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
Debrecen, Hungary
Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...
. He challenged seven other swimmers on the third heat, including fellow two-time Olympian
Martin Liivamägi
Martin Liivamägi (born 5 July 1988) is an Estonian swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke and individual medley events. He is a two-time Olympian (2008 and 2012), a 2010 Pac-10 champion in the 200 m individual medley, a double NCAA team titleh ...
of Estonia. He raced to third place by two tenths of a second (0.20) behind Greece's
Panagiotis Samilidis
Panagiotis Samilidis (born 9 August 1993) is a Greek swimmer. He won two bronze medals at the 2012 European Aquatics Championships
The 2012 European Aquatics Championships were held from 14 to 27 May 2012 in Debrecen, Hungary and Eindhoven, Ne ...
in 1:01.40. Almeida failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed twenty-fifth overall out of 44 swimmers on the first day of preliminaries.
Almeida was a member of the swimming team for the
Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...
, with a sports administration major at the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...
in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. Almeida also became the first swimmer in school's history to claim a title at the NCAA Division I Championships in
Federal Way, Washington
Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the tenth-largest city in Washington and the fifth-large ...
. He blasted a time of 1:51.88 in the 200 breast stroke to match former Olympic silver medalist Ed Moses for the fourth-fastest all time in collegiate history.