BUDAPEST: American swimmer Anita Alvarez fainted and drowned while swimming in the Solo Free Final during the World Aquatics Championships here. She reached the bottom of the pool Coach Andrea Fuentes saved him by jumping into the pool with a time indicator. The incident caused chaos at the venue and Anita’s fellow swimmers were in shock, although everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the coach rescued her. Surprisingly, this is the second time that Anita has fainted in the pool during the competition, the first time she fainted in the pool during the Olympics qualifying event in Barcelona and even then Fuents helped her.
- Anita Alvarez jumped out of the pool and pulled out coach Andrea Fuentes, who did not come out after completing the routine, fearing that something was wrong.
- This is the second time that Anita has fainted in a pool, the first time she has fainted during an Olympic qualifying event in Barcelona.
Anita was brought up from the bottom of the bridge and then taken out on a stretcher to the bridge’s medical center. Alvarez was not breathing when he was brought out so there was an atmosphere of fear. The American swimming team later released a statement saying Alvarez was in good health. Coach Fuentes told Spanish radio that the incident was scary, when Alvarez didn’t seem to react after coming down the aisle after the routine. , Which Alvarez did not. I yelled at the lifeguard but they would not listen to me, she was not breathing and I jumped inside knowing that this was an Olympics final.
