A big drama at the World Championships, after American artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez lost consciousness during a solo exercise, until her coach - Andrea Puentes - jumps in to save her from drowning.
The Spaniard Fuentes, a four-time Olympic medalist in artistic swimming, jumped into the pool after seeing Alvarez sink to the bottom.
She received medical treatment near the pool before being taken on a stretcher.
It was the second time Points had been forced to rescue Alvarez after she jumped into the pool during last year’s Olympic qualifiers and pulled her to safety along with American swimming partner Lindy Schroeder.
Rapid rescue. @ AFP photographers Oli Scarff and Peter Kohalmi capture the dramatic rescue of USA's Anita Alvarez from the bottom of the pool when she fainted during the women's solo free artistic swimming finals at the Budapest 2022 World Aquatics Championships pic.twitter.com/8Y0wo6lSUn
- AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 23, 2022
"Anita is much better, she's already at her best. It was a scary moment, to be honest," Puentes told the Spanish newspaper 'Marca', "I jumped into the water again because I saw that no one, no lifeguard, jumped in. "But now she's fine. She has to rest."
The coach added: "Sometimes we forget that it happens in sports at the most difficult level. Marathons, cycling, cross-country running ... they all have pictures of athletes who do not finish the competition on their own and need help to cross the finish line. Our industry is not "Unlike them, it was just held in the pool. We also stretch the limits of our ability."
In a statement on the U.S. artistic swimming Instagram page, Puentes said the 25-year-old Alvarez will be examined by doctors before a decision is made on her participation in the national team competition on Friday.
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