Arthur Albiero

Arthur Albiero (1973– ) is a Brazilian-born American swimming coach who was an All-American swimming competitor for Oakland University and coached swimming at the University of Louisville for over twenty years beginning in August, 2003. At the University of Louisville, he led both the men's and women's teams to championships in the Big East and AAC Conferences from 2010-2014 and led his women's team to a fourth place NCAA team championship in 2022-3. Through 2024, he had twenty of his swimmers qualify for and participate in the Olympic games. Olympians he has coached include 2016 Rio Olympic gold medalist Kelsi Worrell Dahlia who competed for America in the 4x100-meter medley relay, and 2004 Athens breaststroke Olympic bronze medalist Anne Poleska who competed for Germany.

While serving as an Associate Coach at the University of Alabama from 1999-2003, he coached bronze medalist Anne Poleska, and 2000-2004 Olympic participant Ioan Stefan Gherghel. While Head Coach at the University of Louisville, he sent three of his swimmers, Valentin Preda, Andrei Radzionau and Adam Madarassy to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, four of his swimmers to the 2012 London Olympics, seven of his swimmers to the 2016 Rio Olympics, one of his swimmers to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and four of his swimmers to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Albiero was born around June, 1973 in São Bernardo do Campo, in greater Sao Paulo, Brazil. He began swimming at age seven when his sister Fernanda took up swimming to help with her breathing problems and his mother Najir took him to the pool as well. At 13, he began enjoying competition, and attended a summer swim program at the University of Alabama. He attended Collegio Rio Branco, a prestigious greater Sao Paulo area school that stressed an International Education, and the teaching of English and European languages. He holds dual American and Brazilian citizenship. An internationalist in many ways, Albiero is fluent in English, his native Portuguese, and Spanish, and can read Italian and French. Many of his swimmers and the vast majority of the Olympic participants he coached would compete for countries other than the United States.

After High School graduation in Brazil, beginning in the Fall of 1992, Albiero began his Freshman year at Cal State Bakersfield in Bakersfield, California. With Albiero's help in his Freshman year, Cal State won its eighth consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship under Hall of Fame Coach Dr. Ernie Maglischo in the 1992-1993 season. Maglischo held a PHd. in Exercise Physiology and was a noted author on swimming technique. When Maglischo left Cal State for Arizona, Albiero considered a transfer to Oakland.

In his Sophomore through Senior years, Albiero swam for Michigan's Oakland University in Auburn and Rochester Hills, under Hall of Fame Coach Pete Hovland from 1993-1996. He may have also received some mentoring from Oakland's women's coach at the time and future Oakland Athletic Director Tracy Huth. While at Oakland, Albiero won an individual national title in the 200-yard individual medley and competed with 800 freestyle relay teams that won national titles. By his Senior year in 1996, Albiero was a defending National champion in the 200 Individual Medley and favored to repeat at the Division II NCAA Championship's that year. According to Albiero's Coach Pete Hovland, during Albiero's time with Oakland, the team went undefeated in dual meets two years in a row, and won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference Championships (GLIAC) in two years as well. Under Coach Hovland, Oakland also won consecutive Division II NCAA National Team Championships during Albiero's time with the team from 1993-1996.

Albiero earned three NCAA championship titles and was a Scholastic All-American in three of his years as an Oakland swimmer. He earned a total of 14 All-American honors during his time with Oakland, and as a Senior was the captain of the 1996 team that set an NCAA record for most points scored at a national championship meet. He graduated in Oakland in 1996 with a degree in psychology, while minoring in exercise physiology.

Albiero coached at Kenyon College and the University of Alabama where he was mentored by outstanding coaches before beginning his long coaching tenure at the University of Louisville.

In one of his first coaching stints between 1996-1999, Albiero was an Assistant swimming Coach at Kenyon College, a strong Division III program. At Kenyon, Albiero was mentored by Hall of Fame Coach Jim Steen. Enjoying outstanding success as a coach, Steen led the Kenyon men and women swim teams to an exceptional number of Division III NCAA championships during his tenure. While Albiero served as an Assistant coach, the men's and women's teams under Head Coach Steen captured six national championships, divided equally between the men's and women's teams. Albiero also worked at the club level, during this period, coaching a swim camp and an Oakland YMCA team.