Artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez was dramatically rescued from the bottom of the pool by Team USA’s head coach after fainting in a distressing scene at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.
Andrea Fuentes leapt in to rescue Alvarez, who had sunk to the bottom of the pool and was not breathing after passing out at the conclusion of her routine during Wednesday night’s solo free final.
“It was a big scare. I had to jump in because the lifeguards weren’t doing it,” Fuentes was reported as saying by Spanish newspaper Marca.
Fuentes, dressed not in swimming gear but in shorts and a T-shirt, dived to the bottom of the pool and dragged Alvarez to the surface before being assisted to get the stricken American to the edge of the pool.
“I was scared because I saw she wasn’t breathing, but now she is doing very well,” said Fuentes, a four-time Olympic artistic swimming medallist.