Coach opens up about rescuing fainted artistic swimmer: 'I went as fast as I could'

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Andrea Fuentes knew immediately something was wrong when artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez failed to come up for a breath and sunk to the bottom of a pool during a solo free routine Wednesday.

Alvarez was competing at the swimming world championships in Budapest, Hungary, when she fainted.

Fuentes dove into the pool fully clothed to rescue the swimmer. Fuentes appeared on ABC’s "Good Morning America" and spoke about what she was thinking when she dove into the water to save Alvarez.

"When you finish, you really want to breathe because you hold your breath for a long time, and the first thing you want to do is breathe," the coach said on the program.

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Anita Alvarez of the U.S. receives medical attention during the women's solo free final. (REUTERS/Lisa Leutner)

"And I thought she was going down, so I was like, immediately, [I] knew that something was happening, so I went as fast as I could. And I reach her and grab her to the surface and tried to calm her down and make her breathe."

Fuentes added in an interview with Spanish news outlet Marca she dove into the pool because she didn’t see the lifeguards doing it.

"I was scared because I could see she wasn't breathing, but she's feeling great now. She's at her best," she said.

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Dramatic images were captured at the pool. Alvarez, a two-time Olympian, was given medical attention and was doing better Thursday.

Anita Alvarez of the U.S. receives medical attention during the women's solo free final. (REUTERS/Lisa Leutner)

A member of Team USA, right, recovers USA's Anita