Fully Vaccinated Olympic Swimmer Fainted in Pool Six Weeks After 2nd Jab
By May 2021, Olympic artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez had already received two injections of synthetic mRNA. Her first fainting spell at a major competition was on June 13, 2021. She lost consciousness again publicly in a pool on June 22, 2022.
In the video above, Alvarez says she received her first shot of synthetic mRNA in March 2021 and the second jab sometime in May 2021.
On June 13, 2021, Alvarez briefly lost consciousness at the end of a routine at an Olympic qualification event in Barcelona. Her coach had to dive into the pool, fully clothed, to save her.
The video of that 2021 episode has been taken down from the official Olympics site.
A year later, on June 22, 2022 (Wednesday), Alvarez again had to be rescued from the bottom of the pool by her coach at the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, after the competitor lost consciousness.
Coach Andrea Fuentes jumped into the pool after she saw the 25-year-old swimmer sink to the bottom at the end of her routine in the women’s solo free event.
Fuentes spoke to the media in her native country of Spain about what transpired.
Fuentes said on Thursday that Alvarez was doing “really good” and medical tests showed everything was “under control.”
The mother of Anita Alvarez, who was not in Budapest but was watching from Erie County in New York, said that her daughter had fainted a few other times.
“She fainted,” said Karen Alvarez, a former college all-American in what used to be known as synchronized swimming. “They’re still trying to track down what happened… It’s happened a few times.”
Coach Andrea Fuentes leapt in to rescue Team USA's Anita Alvarez, who had sunk to the bottom of the pool and was not breathing at the World Aquatics Championships.
"It was a big scare. I had to jump in because the lifeguards weren't doing it" https://t.co/QzBH5TRcvD pic.twitter.com/mMYatfefLI
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 23, 2022
The US swim team has released a statement saying that Alvarez was doing well.
Fuentes, a four-time Olympic medalist, told Spanish radio that Alvarez had fainted due to the effort expended during the routine.
“I’ve gotten the vaccine already actually. I think first week of March and then I got the second dose just two weeks ago, and yeah I’m just grateful to have had access to it,” Alvarez said.
“I think exactly what Dana had said is just peace of mind to be able to travel and compete with our team and obviously we haven’t done any traveling or competing yet besides a couple virtual things, but just looking forward and ahead towards Tokyo I think we’re just grateful to have gotten access to it and not just for ourselves and for traveling, but also just for the community and you know for more than just ourselves, but protecting the community and beyond… Most of my team has had the vaccine now, so we’re really excited and happy about that.”
Alvarez placed ninth on Wednesday. Earlier, the U.S. team missed qualifying for the Olympics by one spot and .211 of a point.
The U.S. last qualified an artistic team for the Olympics in 2008. Its last medals in duet and team came in 2004.
Synchronized swimming changed its name to artistic swimming after the Rio Olympics.