American artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez has terrified the swimming world at the World Championships in Budapest.
In the middle of the competition, the 25-year-old top athlete fainted and sank to the bottom of the pool.
The incident occurred while she was completing the solo final.
Alvarez’s coach Andrea Fuentes reacted in seconds by jumping into the pool to pull the swimmer to safety.
“It was a big scare,” said Fuentes, a four-time Olympic medallist, according to Spanish newspaper Marca.
“I was scared because I saw she wasn’t breathing, but now she is very well.”
“She only had water in her lungs, when she started breathing again everything was fine.”
And on Spanish radio she said, “It felt like a whole hour. I saw immediately that something was wrong. I shouted to the lifeguards to get into the water, but they obviously didn’t understand me.”
“She wasn’t breathing. I’m going as fast as I can – almost like it’s an Olympic final. “
Alvarez received medical attention at the poolside before being taken away on a stretcher.
In a statement on US Artistic Swimming’s Instagram page, Fuentes said Alvarez would be examined by doctors on Thursday before a decision was made about her participation in Friday’s team competition.
Fuentes said, “Anita is fine – the doctors checked all the values and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen levels, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc… everything is fine.”
“We sometimes forget that this kind of thing happens in other high-performance sports as well. “
“Marathon, cycling, cross-country… we’ve all seen images of some athletes not making it to the finish line and others helping them get there.”
“Our sport is no different than any other, except that we push our limits in a pool and sometimes find them.”
“Anita feels good now and the doctors confirm that. “
“Tomorrow she will rest all day and then decide with the doctor whether or not she can swim the final team. Thank you for all the good wishes for Anita.”
Alvarez, who finished seventh in the final, had already fainted after a routine during an Olympic qualifier in Barcelona last year.
She was also saved then by her coach Fuentes.