US swimmer pulled from World Championship pool due to fainting

• Artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez fainted and was rescued from the bottom of the pool.
• Team USA’s head coach Andrea Fuentes jumped in to save her.
• The 25-year-old had performed the “wildest and quickest free dive” of her professional career.

At the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez fainted and was spectacularly rescued from the bottom of the pool by Team USA’s head coach.

Alvarez had collapsed at the end of her routine during Wednesday night’s solo free final, and Andrea Fuentes jumped in to save her. She had reached the bottom of the pool and was not breathing.

Spanish daily Marca quoted Fuentes as stating, “It was a big fear. I had to jump in because the lifeguards weren’t doing it.”

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Fuentes, who was not wearing swimming gear but rather shorts and a T-shirt, dove to the bottom of the pool and pulled Alvarez to the top, where he was helped to the pool’s edge.

Fuentes, a four-time Olympic medalist in artistic swimming, said: “I was terrified because I saw she wasn’t breathing, but now she is doing extremely well.

Along with teammates and spectators who were shocked and some of whom were crying, Alvarez was carried on a stretcher to the pool’s medical centre.

Fuentes told, “It was quite intense. “Her lungs were full of water, therefore I believe she went at least two minutes without breathing”.

“Although it was a tremendous worry, we were able to get her to a safe spot. She only vomited water and coughed once.”

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“Stunned” Lifeguards

At the Aquatic World Championships, which conclude on Sunday after ten days of competition, Fuentes criticized the lifeguards’ sluggish response time.

“I glanced at the rescuers when I noticed she was sinking, but I could only see their astonished faces. They did not respond,” the newspaper quoted Fuentes as saying.

“Will you leap in now, I wondered. My reflexes began to work right away. I can’t simply stare; that’s how I am.”

“I leapt instead of second-guessing it. I believe it to have been the wildest and quickest free dive of my professional career.”

“She was plainly heavy, so picking her up and lifting her wasn’t simple.”

The 25-year-old Alvarez has previously fainted during competition but was competing in her third World Championships.

During an Olympic qualifying match in Barcelona last year, she experienced a similar reaction.

Alvarez had fainted as a result of the exertion put out during the performance, according to a statement from Fuentes posted on social media by the USA creative team.

In the statement, Fuentes stated, “Anita is okay – the physicians examined her vitals and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, and blood pressure.”

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“We occasionally overlook the fact that this also occurs in other extreme sports. We have all seen pictures of competitors who don’t make it to the finish line in cross-country races, cycling marathons, and other athletic events,” she continued.

“Our sport is the same as others; we just do it in a pool. We test the boundaries and occasionally hit them. Anita is in good health right now, and the doctors concur.”

“She will rest all day tomorrow before consulting a doctor to determine whether or not she can compete in the free team finals. We appreciate all of your kind thoughts for Anita,” she concluded.