FINA released a statement saying that Anita Alvarez, the American artistic swimmer who fainted in the pool at the end of her free solo routine on Wednesday, would not be competing in the upcoming team finals on Friday.
Read the full statement here:
Earlier today FINA convened a meeting that included three representatives of FINA’s Sports Medicine Committee, the FINA Executive Director, the Team USA doctor, the Team USA team leader and the President of USA Artistic Swimming.
The meeting lasted an hour. Following these discussions, FINA determined that Anita Alvarez should not compete today. The health and safety of athletes must always come first. While FINA understands why this decision will have been disappointing to the athlete, it was a decision that was made with her best interests in mind. FINA is delighted that Anita Alvarez has already made such a strong recovery, and looks forward to seeing her in competition again soon.
On Thursday, team officials originally said that Alvarez could still take part in the team free final. Last year, at an Olympic qualification event, Alvarez briefly lost consciousness at the end of a routine and had to be rescued by her coach. However, she returned to competition mere hours after the incident.
When Alvarez fainted in the pool during her routine on Wednesday, two people jumped in fully clothed to help save her, with one of them being her coach, Andrea Fuentes.
“It was a good scare, I had to dive because the lifeguards didn’t do it,” Fuentes said, according to Spanish newspaper Marca. “I was scared because I could see she wasn’t breathing, but she’s feeling great now, she’s at her best.”
Alvarez ended up placing seventh in the free solo final.
Let me get this straight: FINA sets up a system that prevents lifeguards from executing a timely rescue and then it prevents Alvarez from competing again? Bravo, boys.