Team USA Synchro Anita Alvarez passed out while performing at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, reports As.
The incident happened on Wednesday during the soloists’ free program final. Alvarez fell ill, she began to sink, after which USA team coach Andrea Fuentes, dressed in ordinary clothes, jumped into the water to save the 25-year-old athlete, grabbed her and pulled her down. swam to the surface. With an assistant, they managed to drag Alvarez to the edge of the pool. The synchronized swimmer was taken to the medical center, and later it was announced that she was fine.
There was only water in her lungs, as soon as she started breathing again everything was back to normal. She said she wanted to make the final. I said something was wrong, I shouted to the lifeguards to get in the water, but they didn’t understand me. She was not breathing and her pulse was very high; I swam to her as fast as I could, like it was an Olympic final.
When I took her out, she wasn’t breathing, her jaw was clenched. They pulled her on her back and I put her on her side, because you can’t breathe like that. Two minutes without breathing… There was a moment when I was very scared, and now we are both laughing. She passed out due to stress. We have seen where the limit is. That’s what it means to be an athlete,” Fuentes said.
On Friday, Alvarez plans to compete in the tag team competition. Last year, a synchronized swimmer lost consciousness in the water during an Olympic qualifying tournament.
Source : MatchTV
