Team USA artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez is heading to Paris to compete in her third consecutive Olympic Games this summer following her performance in the team and duet events at the World Aquatic Championships in Doha.
This marks the U.S. artistic swimming team’s first Olympic appearance in the team event since 2008.
USA secured their spot by finishing second overall behind China and first among the nations that had not yet punched a ticket to the Games. In order to qualify, the team needed to place in the top five of nations who were still looking to qualify.
Alvarez helped lead Team USA to success by swimming in the eight-member team for all three events at the championships; she guided the team to its third-place finishes in the acrobatic and free routines and fourth-place finish in technical.
Her strong performance came not long after sparking health concerns at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest when she passed out in the water at the end of her routine, sinking to the bottom of pool before USA coach Andrea Fuentes dove in to rescue her.
This was not Alvarez’s first fainting incident; the same thing happened while at a competition in 2021.
Following uncertainty over the future of her artistic swimming career, Alvarez was cleared by World Aquatics to compete again and has bounced back in tremendous fashion as she prepares to take the stage at the Olympics this summer.
Alvarez made her Olympic debut in Rio in 2016, where she represented Team USA in the duet event; Alvarez and her partner Mariya Koroleva placed ninth out of 24 participating teams at the competition.
Tokyo’s Games saw Alvarez place 13th in the field, this time competing alongside Lindi Schroeder.
Alvarez is expected to represent Team USA in both the team and duet competitions at the upcoming Paris Games.
U.S. National Team Roster
- Anita Alvarez
- Megumi Field
- Keana Hunter
- Audrey Kwon
- Calista Liu
- Jacklyn Luu
- Dani Ramirez
- Natalia Vega
- Ruby Remati
- Nikki Dzurko
- Bill May
- Jaime Czarkowski
The artistic swimming competition will take place during the second week of the Paris Olympics from August 5-10, 2024.
Anita rules…. Also a good 400 IMer…