Coach jumps in to rescue US swimmer, who fainted at pool bottom
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New Delhi: The 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest on Wednesday witnessed a terrifying moment as Team USA swimmer Anita Alvarez fainted during the solo free final.
As per reports, artistic swimmer Alvarez sunk to the bottom of the pool in an unconscious state after completing her routine.
The 25-year-old's coach Fuentes, without skipping a beat jumped into the pool and managed to pull her to the top before bringing her to the edge of the pool to get immediate medical attention.
"She wasn't breathing ... I went as quickly as I could as if it were an Olympic final," Fuentes added.
"It was a big scare. I had to jump in because the lifeguards weren't doing it. I was scared because I saw she wasn't breathing, but now she is doing very well." Fuentes was reported as saying by Spanish newspaper Marca, as quoted by AFP.
"It felt like a whole hour. I said things weren't right, I was shouting at the lifeguards to get into the water, but they didn't catch what I said or they didn't understand."
Four-time Olympic medalist Fuentes told Spanish radio that the reason why Alvarez fainted was because of the effort exerted during her routine.
"She only had water in her lungs, once she started breathing again everything was OK," said Fuentes.
The 2021 USA Artistic Swimming Athlete of the Year Alvarez was in the hunt for a medal in her third world championships. However, she failed to reach the podium after finishing seventh. The gold medal went to Japan's Yukiko Inui while Ukraine's Marta Fiedina and Greece's Evangelia Platanioti earned silver and bronze respectively.
