Keith Carter attended Purdue and won the NCAA 200y butterfly in 1949. He finished second to Joe Verdeur at the 1948 U.S. Final Trials and it was Verdeur who again beat him at the Olympics. Carter served 2½ years as a bombardier in the Air Force during World War II. He graduated from Purdue with honors in electrical engineering, winning a Big 10 medal for academics and athletics. He later worked for Reliance Electric, which was purchased by Rockwell Automation, starting out as a sales engineer, and eventually moving up to general manager of all international operations. In his later years Carter retired to Asheville, North Carolina, where he went back to the pool, competing in masters competitions, winning several national events, and setting a masters world record in the 100 fly. He was also involved in church and community service.