Anita Alvarez (born December 2, 1996) is an American artistic and synchronized swimmer. Originally from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, she attended Kenmore West Senior High School, from which she graduated in 2014. She began her professional synchronized swimming career after she graduated.

Career

Alvarez competed in the women's duet at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

with

Mariya Koroleva Mariya Koroleva (born April 10, 1990) is a Russian-born American synchronized swimmer. After emigrating to the United States, Koroleva began participating in synchronized swimming, and competed at Stanford University. She was a member of the tea ...

, finishing 9th. She is a member of the USA Synchronized Swimming National Team. She competed at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan and at the 2014 Junior World Championships. Previously, Alvarez coached intramural swimming in Western New York. As coach for Walnut Creek Aquanuts, she saw them to the 2019 Junior Olympics in Buffalo, New York. That year she also won a bronze medal with the United States women's team at the 2019 Pan American Games. She qualified to represent the United States at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

in the women's duet, alongside Lindi Schroeder. The pair finished 13th in their preliminary, failing to advance to the final. Alvarez was named USA Synchro Athlete of the Year along with Mariya Koroleva in 2016 and in 2019. She was also named USA's Artistic Swimming Athlete of the Year in 2021. At the end of her solo free routine at the

2022 World Aquatics Championships The 2022 World Aquatics Championships, the 19th edition of the FINA World Aquatics Championships, were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 17 June to 3 July 2022. These championships included five disciplines, with high diving not staged for this edi ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

on June 22, Alvarez fainted in the pool and sank to the bottom. Her coach

Andrea Fuentes Andrea Fuentes Fache (born 7 April 1983 in Valls, Tarragona) is a Spanish swimming coach and former synchronised swimmer. She is the most decorated swimmer in the history of the Spanish national team, with four Olympic, 16 World Championship and ...

jumped into the pool to rescue her and she received medical attention afterward.

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

subsequently barred her from participating in the team free routine final on June 24. Alvarez had previously fainted during the FINA Olympic Qualification Tournament in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in June 2021, also being rescued by Fuentes on that occasion. Alvarez went on to win silver medals with the United States team at the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

and the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

References

External links

*
Anita Alvarez
at USA Artistic Swimming * * *
Anita Alvarez interview at himalaya.com
* 1996 births Living people American synchronized swimmers Olympic synchronized swimmers for the United States Olympic silver medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Artistic swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Artistic swimmers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in synchronized swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 2015 Pan American Games Artistic swimmers at the 2019 Pan American Games Artistic swimmers at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games World Aquatics Championships medalists in synchronised swimming Synchronized swimmers at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships Artistic swimmers at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships Artistic swimmers at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships American sportspeople of Mexican descent People from Amherst, New York Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York 21st-century American sportswomen {{US-swimming-bio-stub