He competed for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States.

[1] Participating in the 1995 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) held in Rio de Janeiro, Cordeiro won the gold medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle, along with Gustavo Borges, Fernando Scherer and Alexandre Massura,[2] with 3m12s42 time.

In the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Cordeiro qualified to the 4×100-metre freestyle final, finishing 4th.

[5] In the 4×100-metre freestyle, Cordeiro broke the South American record, with a time of 3:17.18, along with Gustavo Borges, Fernando Scherer and César Quintaes.

[6][7] In the 4×200-metre freestyle, he broke the South American record, with a time of 7:22.92, along with Gustavo Borges, Rodrigo Castro and Leonardo Costa.