“Last Thing I Remember”- Artistic Swimmer Anita Alvarez Describes Frightening Drowning Experience at FINA World Championships

19th FINA World Championships witnessed a shocking incident two days back. Anita Alvarez from USA lost consciousness and drowned during her performance. Acting swiftly, her coach Andrea Fuentes dove into the water and pulled her out of the pool. Striking images of the incident flooded the internet, and the paramedics took her away to the medical facility. However, she won’t be able to compete in the events.

The International Federation of Swimming prohibited her from competing in USA’s team artistic swimming performance. After having medical tests, her coach Fuentes confirmed she was ready to compete. Therefore, this decision is a blow for her, or probably a wise one. Later, she appeared in an interview to talk about the incident and was grateful for the medical team involved in her rescue. 

Anita Alvarez recollects the incident

After performing well in the first bits of her performance, she put forward a sensational performance to her liking. However, she recollected something went wrong after lifting her arm. Sinking to the bottom of the pool, Alvarez explained the incident in her interview. 

“I do remember like the very last arm I did, I gave like, it’s such a simple small arm. But I was like give everything until the very end and I did that and then I remember going down and just being like, kind of like, ‘uh-oh, I don’t feel too great. And that’s literally the last thing I remember actually,” said Alvarez. 

 READ MORE – “She Wasn’t Breathing”- Lifeguards Fail to Protect Drowning Swimmer at FINA World Championships

The incident startled fans in attendance and people could not believe what they had witnessed. Medical tests confirmed she was stable, but her coach fumed at the lack of awareness shown by the lifeguards.

Pending investigation at FINA World Championships

Fuentes recollected how the lifeguards did not notice it as she sunk into the water. The coach criticized the lifeguards during that event as FINA is investigating the matter. Fuentes believed the lifeguards would jump in to rescue her. But the lifeguards could not dive into the pool unless they received a signal from the judges. The International Swimming Federation barred her from competing, even though her name was on the team list. 

Alvarez took to Instagram to post her updates and enjoyed a meal with her friends. As this was not the first episode, the federation did not want to risk her health. Although she won’t compete in the team event, the swimmer fraternity is glad to see her happy and healthy. That’s a great win for everyone involved. 

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