It’s the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, and USA’s two-time Olympian Anita Alvarez begins to sink.
Noticing something is off, her coach, Andrea Fuentes, yells to the lifeguards.
They don’t move.
Without wasting another second, she dives in fully clothed.
She's right. Anita is completely unconscious and limp.
Andrea swims and pulls her up to the surface as fast as she can.
Medics resuscitate her, check her vitals, and Anita is good to compete another day.
If her coach hadn’t noticed, Anita would’ve drowned.
Luckily, she knew Anita.
When Anita was under for a little too long, she noticed.
When no one else was about to help, she noticed.
And (most importantly) when she noticed, she didn’t think twice about it. She dove in.
When you are under too long, who are the people that will notice?
Who is the friend that’ll dive in when you lose your strength to swim?
And (most importantly) who can count on you to be that person for them?
Put me in, coach.
-GFDD
