The World Aquatics Championships was nearly the scene of a tragic accident yesterday after Olympic swimmer Anita Alvarez fell unconscious after her artistic routine in Budapest, Hungary. The US swimmer Alvarez, 25, passed out immediately after her sequence in the solo free final and sank to the bottom of the pool.
Her quick-thinking coach Andrea Fuentes leapt in to save her star before another male swimmer came to assist. Fuentes’ main aim was to get Alvarez’s face above the surface before moving her out of the water, and the stricken swimmer soon regained consciousness after receiving emergency attention from doctors by the pool before being taken away on a stretcher.
The US team were visibly shaken to the side of the pool as their comrade received treatment. This isn’t the first time Fuentes has come to her charge’s rescue following a similar incident. She also jumped in when Alvarez fainted in the wake of her routine at an Olympic qualifying event in Barcelona last year.
