American swimmer Anita Alvarez is breathing a sigh of relief on Thursday after her coach dramatically rescued her when the athlete fainted and sank to the bottom of the swimming pool in the middle or her routine on Wednesday night.
The dramatic scenes unfolded at the World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, while Alvarez, 25, was competing in the final of the women’s solo free event and suddenly lost consciousness, causing her to sink to the bottom of the competition pool.
A member of Team USA swims to recover USA’s Anita Alvarez, from the bottom of the pool during an incident in the women’s solo free artistic swimming finals, during the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest on June 22, 2022.
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Andrea Fuentes, Alvarez’s coach, immediately dove into the water and was able to pull Alvarez to the surface before the swimmer was taken off for medical treatment on a stretcher as the rest of Team USA, who were watching the competition inside the arena, looked on clearly shaken by the ordeal.
“Anita is okay,” Fuentes said in a statement after the terrifying incident. “The doctors checked all vitals and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc… all is okay.”
A member of Team USA recovers USA’s Anita Alvarez from the bottom of the pool during an incident in the women’s solo free artistic swimming finals, during the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest on June 22, 2022.
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Fuentes continued: “We sometimes forget that this happens in other high-endurance sports. Marathon, cycling, cross country… we all have seen images where some athletes don’t make it to the finish line and others help them to get there. Our sport is no different than others, just in a pool, we push through limits and sometimes we find them.”
Even after having to be rescued, Alvarez still managed to finish the competition in seventh place with a final score of 87.6333.
Anita Alvarez of Team United States is attended to by medical staff following her Women’s Solo Free Final performance on day six of the Budapest 2022 FINA World Championships on June 22, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary.
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Alvarez suffered through a similar event at the FINA Olympic Games Artistic Swimming Qualification Tournament in Barcelona in June 2021 when she fainted while competing and Fuentes came to her immediate aid in the pool again on that occasion.
Anita Alvarez of Team United States competes in the Women’s Solo Free Final on day six of the Budapest 2022 FINA World Championships on June 22, 2022, in Budapest, Hungary.
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For now, however, a decision on whether or not Alvarez will continue on in this year’s competition has yet to be made.
“Anita feels good now and the doctors also say she is okay,” concluded Fuentes. “Tomorrow she will rest all day and will decide with the doctor if she can swim free team finals or not. Thank you for all of your well wishes for Anita.”
Members of the United States team react as swimmer Anita Alvarez receives medical attention during the women’s solo free final at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on June 22, 2022.
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