By Our Special Correspondent
Her quick reaction to Andrea Fuentes' dramatic rescue only prevented the tragedy.
United States coach Anita Alvarez has revealed that something went wrong when she saw artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez sink to the bottom of the pool during a solo free routine at the World Aquatics Championships on Wednesday.
Fuentes fully dressed and dived. She swam to the unresponsive Alvarez, put her arms around her and lifted her to the surface of the water, where another man helped her get out of the pool.
Alvarez, a two-time Olympian, fainted. She was immediately treated. She was much better on Thursday. “Anita has been evaluated by medical staff and monitoring will continue. She is much better and is using today to relax,”USA Artistic Swimming said in a statement to the Associated Press.
"Looking at yesterday's 2x Olympian Anita Alvarez's medical emergency and the rescue made by Coach Andrea Fuentes is heartbreaking for our community. She gave an exceptional solo performance and competed brilliantly in four preliminary and three finals over six days. Alvarez finished seventh in Wednesday's individual final.
"Whether or not she will swim in Friday's free team final ... will be decided by Anita and the expert medical staff," USA Artistic Swimming said.
Fuentes said Alvarez was doing much better in an Instagram post. "Doctors checked all the vitals and everything was normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc ... everything was OK," Fuentes wrote.
We sometimes forget that this happens in other high-endurance sports. Marathon, cycling, cross country ... we have all seen pictures of some athletes not reaching the finish line and others helping to get there. Our sport is no different than others, in just one pool, we cross boundaries and sometimes find them. (AP)
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