Coach Explained ‘I Was Not Going to Wait’ After Saving Olympic Swimmer At World Championships
Athletes don’t usually advance to the top division of their sport’s competition every day. Additionally, it doesn’t happen often for an athlete to pass out during a sporting event. At the FINA World Aquatics Championships, one swimmer put on a show-stopping performance.
In 2022, the competitions were held in Budapest, Hungary. Anita Alvarez, a gifted swimmer, participated in the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. The Olympian was raised in Kenmore, New York, where she was born. When she was barely 14 years old, she made her Olympic debut.
The Olympic swimmer passed out while competing in the FINA Championships. Andrea Fuentes, Alvarez’s trainer, claims that fainting can occur frequently in sports. Coach Fuentes’ underwater rescue wasn’t the first time this brave deed was performed. Another time in previous years, the coach helped the swimmer.
Alvarez, who was chosen as the United States’ top artistic swimmer for 2021, received medical assistance on the poolside before being carried away on a stretcher. Alvarez wants to finish competing in the FINA World Aquatics Championship despite the frightening incident. The athlete was happy to hear from her physicians that she will be well enough to compete in the FINA Championships after her recovery.
Fuentes, her coach, advised her that sometimes pushing yourself is necessary to achieve your goals. The coach explained that incidents like this sometimes occur in such high endurance sports after saving her swimmer from passing out at the bottom of the pool. She added that because it came to her naturally, she found it simplest to dive right in.
Fuentes told CNN, “I was already paying attention, and then I saw her sliding down. I simply decided that I would not wait, without even considering whether I should go or not.
This is not very unusual in the world of athletics, according to the coach.
“Sometimes we overlook the fact that this also occurs in other high-intensity sports. We’ve all seen pictures of athletes competing in cross-country races, cycling marathons, and other events where some athletes fail to reach the finish line while others assist them “Fuentes threw in.
Her coach not only saved her, but a photographer at the championships captured the entire incident on film. Since then, they’ve posted pictures of the rescue, which have gone viral online.
“It was sort of a stunning sight to behold,” photographer Oli Scarf told CNN. “Everyone in the stadium was watching it through the surface of the water.” As soon as I looked back down at the robotic camera, I had this kind of clear perspective of the incident.
Immediately after taking these stunning photos of this incredible athlete performing, Scarff remarked, “it changed to photographing a near-death situation in the space of a heartbeat.” They continued, “I was genuinely rather shaken.
Alvarez was given the all-clear to compete in the championships on Friday after a successful recovery.
In a statement, Fuentes stated, “Anita is okay — the physicians examined her vitals and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc. All is okay.”
“We push past limits and occasionally find them in our sport, which is no different from other sports in that regard. Anita feels great right now, and the doctors concur that she’s OK “Added she.
Source: rekord.co.za