American Olympian Anita Alvarez recalls near-drowning incident

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American Olympian Anita Alvarez needed to be rescued from the pool when she fainted and nearly drowned at the World Aquatics Championships in June 2022.

The artistic swimmer eventually helped Team USA win a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Games, but it was the moment when her coach rushed into the pool to save her two years prior that stuck with the sports world for months before the Olympics began.

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Anita Alvarez of the United States, center, is taken from the pool after collapsing during the solo free final of the artistic swimming at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)

She opened up about the incident in an interview with People magazine, which was published on Saturday.

"I remember suddenly beginning to see light through my eyes, and thinking, ‘Oh, I’m not breathing,’ just as they were starting to put an oxygen mask on me,’" she said.

Alvarez said the entire incident "blew up way more than" she would have thought.

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Anita Alvarez is helped out of the pool after collapsing during the solo free final of the artistic swimming at the 19th FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. (Zsolt Szigetvary/MTI via AP)

"But learning how those photos inspired people changed the way I looked at it," she said.

Alvarez is now focused on her career outside the pool. She joined the U.S. Air Force and graduated from basic training in January. She is a member of the World Class