Photos capture dramatic moment swimmer is rescued from bottom of pool after fainting

A swimmer had to be dramatically rescued from the bottom of a pool after she collapsed during a competition at the World Aquatics Championship in Budapest.

Artistic swimmer Antia Alvarez was competing in the solo free final on Wednesday when she lost consciousness and sank to the bottom of the pool.

The 25-year-old's coach Andrea Fuentes had to make the dramatic save and dove into the water to save Alvarez. Afterwards, Fuentes told Spanish news outlet Marca, that she did this "because the lifeguards weren't doing it."

Speaking to Spanish radio Fuentes said that the rescue felt like it took an "entire hour" adding: "I said things weren't right, I was shouting at the lifeguards to get into the water, but they didn't catch what I said or they didn't understand. I went as quickly as I could, as if it were an Olympic final."

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Photos of the incident, which include underwater shots of Fuentes saving Alvarez have since gone viral.

AFP via Getty Images

AFP via Getty Images

Fuentes also added on Instagram: "Anita is okay - the doctors checked all vitals and everything is normal: heart rate, oxygen, sugar levels, blood pressure, etc… all is okay. We sometimes forget that this happens in other high-endurance sports. Marathon, cycling, cross country… we all have seen images, where some athletes don’t make it to the finish line and others, help them to get there. Our sport is no different than others, just in a pool, we push through limits and sometimes we find them. Anita feels good now and the doctors also say she is okay. Tomorrow she will rest all day and will decide with the doctor if she can swim free team finals or not. Thank you for all of your well wishes for Anita."

BBC reports that this isn't the first time this has happened. Fuentes had to rescue Alvarez after she again fainted during an Olympic qualifying event in Barcelona last year.

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