Andrea Fuentes is a four-time Olympic medalist in synchronised swimming and the senior national team head coach for the United States, working alongside Reem Abdalazem.
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Fuentes was poolside coaching for the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, where the USA team competed. Anita Alvarez, an artistic swimmer, fainted and sank to the bottom of the pool.
A video of Fuentes diving into the water to pull her to the top has gone viral. Alvarez, who competed in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, was treated beside the pool and then carried away on a stretcher. Alvarez appears to have recovered and intends to compete again
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Fuentes had to save Alvarez for the second time. She jumped into the pool during an Olympic qualification event last year and pulled the American and her swim partner, Lindi Schroeder, to safety.
The American swim team was visibly distressed by the horrific incident and were seen consoling each other by the pool afterwards.
According to Fuentes, ‘Oxygen, glucose, heart, blood pressure, everything’s fine,’ adding that Alvarez will rest before returning to the pool because ‘she has to swim the final’.
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