"At first I was shocked. I didn't expect something like this to be published," the 25-year-old American swimmer told El Pais daily.
"But then I looked at it on the bright side. Now I think the photos are beautiful in a way. To see me like that underwater, so peaceful, so calm, and to see Andrea diving with her arm outstretched trying to reach me, like a superhero,” she added.
Anita Alvarez lost consciousness in the water at the end of her solo performance in the final of the World Championships in Budapest before being rescued by her coach Andrea Fuentes.
Dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, the former Olympic medalist swimmer and now a coach, then jumped into the water to rescue her.
She descended to the bottom of the pool and pulled Alvarez up to the surface before receiving help to carry the distressed swimmer to the edge of the pool.
Photos of the incident, captured by a robot positioned at the bottom of the pool, were published by many media around the world.
"Sometimes the most peaceful place on earth is underwater: when you sit at the bottom of the pool in silence. You feel light, you are centered in yourself. I like that. Sometimes I I need this moment. And in the photos, everything looks very natural," she said.
Anita Alvarez is rescued from drowning by her trainer Andrea Fuentes in Budapest, June 22, 2022 Oli SCARFF AFP / Archives
The swimmer was rescued and the US team quickly declared her out of danger.
This kind of incident is not a first for her.
"It happened once last year, during the Olympic qualifying tournament (in Barcelona editor's note) (...). Before that, she had had sporadic problems with fainting, but never in competition", specified the Federation.
If the doctors allow it, Alvarez could play another event, the team free final scheduled for Friday.
© 2022 AFP