Louisville Brings Back Kevin Arakaki as Assistant Coach
Louisville has hired Kevin Arakaki as an assistant coach to Arthur Albiero, bringing back a former volunteer assistant.
Arakaki most recently spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Pittsburgh. He was volunteer assistant for the Cardinals from 2018-21.
“I am thrilled to welcome Kevin back to our program,” Albiero said in a press release. “He did a phenomenal job creating great relationships when he was our volunteer coach previously. He understands our program culture of excellence and he will be a great addition to our ‘rock star’ coaching staff. After we made the announcement to our team, the exciting responses I have received from team members who worked with Kevin before says it all. It was pure joy and excitement!”
Arakaki helped Pitt’s men’s team place seventh at ACCs in 2024, sending four swimmers to NCAAs and 11 to Olympic trials for their respective countries. The Panthers set 31 school records and qualified 15 athletes for NCAAs in 2023. He worked with both the men’s and women’s teams at Pitt.
Arakaki was a volunteer coach at Louisville from 2018-21. He helped the men win the ACC title in 2021 and was part of the best combined finish in program history at NCAAs in 2019, when the women were fourth and the men fifth. He also worked with Louisville’s pro group, which included three Tokyo Olympians and seven competitors in the International Swimming League, as well as work with Cardinal Aquatics as its national coach.
Arakaki swam at Western Illinois, where he graduated in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He earned a master’s degree in sport psychology from California Southern University in 2019. The native of Hawaii started coaching as an assistant at Hawaii Swim Club. He was a four-year letterwinner at Western Illinois, a backstroke and IM specialist who served as a two-time team captain.
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