U.S. swimmer Anita Alvarez survived a scary incident Wednesday after being rescued in the pool by her coach.
Alvarez became unconscious in the water at the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, and sunk to the bottom of the pool before being saved by coach Andrea Fuentes, the Olympics said.
“Anita is okay — the doctors checked all vitals and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc,” Fuentes said in a statement shared to the USA Artistic Swimming page on Instagram.
The incident occurred toward the end of Alvarez’s solo free routine. The 25-year-old will take Thursday off before a decision is made for whether she can take part in the team free event.
“We sometimes forget that this happens in other high-endurance sports,” Fuentes said. “Marathon, cycling, cross country… we all have seen images where some athletes don’t make it to the finish line and others help them to get there.
“Our sport is no different than others, just in a pool, we push through limits and sometimes we find them.”
Alvarez, who is from Kenmore in Western New York, competed for Team USA at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, finishing in ninth and 13th place, respectively, in duet events.
