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Pro swimmer faints inside pool during tournament; coach jumps in before lifeguards to save her

Team USA swimmer Anita Alvarez was participating in an artistic swimming solo free final in Budapest. During her attempt, she suddenly lost consciousness and sank to the bottom of the pool as spectators watched on in horror. Her coach, Andrew Fuentes, who was watching the attempt from the sidelines, jumped into the water even before the lifeguards.

TN Viral Desk

Updated Jun 23, 2022, 15:50 IST

Swimmer saved by her coach

Photo : AFP

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

The coach managed to swim quickly and get Anita back to the surface. And with some help from a competition assistant, the professional swimmer was safely bought to the edge of the pool.
Stunning photos captured at the event show Fuentes reaching Anita at the bottom of the pool and lifting her out of the water.

A pro swimmer, who fainted inside a pool while participating in a tournament, was saved by her coach.

Her coach, Andrew Fuentes, who was watching the attempt from the sidelines, jumped into the water even before the lifeguards.

She managed to swim quickly and get Anita back to the surface. And with some help from a competition assistant, the professional swimmer was safely bought to the edge of the pool.

Stunning photos captured at the event show Fuentes reaching Anita at the bottom of the pool and lifting her out of the water. Another one shows her and a competition assistant keeping Anita's head above the surface of the water.

Following the daring rescue, Fuentes said Anita had a high pulse rate, water in her lungs, and her jaw was locked in place.

"It felt like a whole hour. I said things weren’t right, I was shouting at the lifeguards to get into the water, but they didn’t catch what I said or they didn’t understand. She wasn’t breathing and had a really high pulse rate; I went [to her] as quickly as I could as if it were an Olympic final," Fuentes was quoted as saying by Metro.co.uk.

Fuentes said Anita fainted from her effort to do well in the 2022 FINA World Aquatics Championships. She had scored 87.6333 points for the routine and finished seventh overall in the final.

"Anita is okay – the doctors checked all vitals and everything is normal – [her] heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, et cetera… all is OK," said Fuentes.

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