The 2022 World Aquatics Championships took a scary turn when Olympian Anita Alvarez appeared to faint in the pool
On June 22, the 26-year-old Team USA artistic swimmer was rescued by her swimming coach, Andrea FuentesShe was saved from the danger by her brother, who dived into the sea to rescue her.
Images captured during the crucial moment show Alvarez floating towards the bottom of the swimming pool. She was apparently unconscious after she had completed her free solo routine in Budapest, Hungary. Fuentes—who previously won four synchronized swimming Olympic medals for Spain—heroically leapt in the pool and was later photographed pulling the swimmer up to the surface of the water. The coach and an unidentified man then dragged Alvarez to the edge of the pool, where she received medical attention before being taken away on a stretcher, per the Olympic Games website.
Fuentes stated that Anita was okay in a June 22 statement posted on USA Artistic Swimming’s Instagram.