Andrea Fuentes

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fuentes and the second or maternal family name is Fache.

Andrea Fuentes Fache (born 7 April 1983 in Valls, Tarragona) is a Spanish swimming coach and former synchronised swimmer.^[4][5] She is the most decorated swimmer in the history of the Spanish national team,^[6] with four Olympic, 16 World Championship and 11 European Championship medals: her four Olympic medals also make her the most decorated Spanish female Olympian of all time, alongside Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Mireia Belmonte.^[7]

Andrea Fuentes

Personal information
Nationality	Spain
Born	(1983-04-07) 7 April 1983 (age 41) Valls, Spain
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Synchronized swimming
Medal record Synchronized swimming Representing  Spain Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 0 3 1 World Championships 1 7 8 European Championships (SC) 5 6 0 Total 6 15 7 Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Women's duet 2008 Beijing Team Competition 2012 London Women's duet 2012 London Team Competition World Championships 2009 Rome Free Routine Combination 2003 Barcelona Free combination[1] 2007 Melbourne Team Free routine 2009 Rome Duet Technical Routine 2009 Rome Duet Free Routine 2009 Rome Team Technical Routine 2009 Rome Team Free Routine 2011 Shanghai Solo free routine 2005 Montreal Team[2] 2005 Montreal Free combination[3] 2007 Melbourne Team technical routine 2011 Shanghai Duet technical routine 2011 Shanghai Team technical routine 2011 Shanghai Solo technical routine 2011 Shanghai Duet free routine 2011 Shanghai Team free routine European Championships 2008 Eindhoven Duet 2008 Eindhoven Team 2008 Eindhoven Combination 2012 Eindhoven Team 2012 Eindhoven Combination 2010 Budapest Solo 2010 Budapest Duet 2010 Budapest Team 2010 Budapest Combination 2012 Eindhoven Solo 2012 Eindhoven Duet
Updated on 22 May 2015

Career

She joined the national synchronised swimming team in 1999.^[6] Andrea has competed at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, where she has won four medals in the women's duet and women's team events.^[8] She retired from elite competition in January 2013, citing demotivation as a result of a conflict between the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation and the head coach of the national team, Ana Tarrés.^[6][9] Since retiring she has become a synchronised swimming coach.^[7]

Coaching

As of 2018^[update], Fuentes became the USA senior national team head coach,^[10] working alongside Reem Abdalazem. The two have a pre-established work relationship, having worked together in synchro for four years.^[11]

In June of 2022, Fuentes was poolside coaching during the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest in which the USA team was competing. Artistic swimmer Anita Alvarez fainted and sank to the bottom of the pool. Fuentes dove in to bring her to the surface. Medical checks after the rescue showed that Alvarez had apparently recovered and planned on continuing to compete.^[12][13]

In the 2024 Olympic Games she won a silver Olympic medal completing an incredible story from not qualifying to finals to Olympic medal in just 5 years.

Personal life

In 2014 Fuentes gave birth to a son, Kilian, from her relationship with gymnast and fellow Olympian Víctor Cano.^[7] Her sister Tina Fuentes, also a synchronized swimmer died in 2018 at the age of 34.^[14]

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in synchronized swimming

References

1. "HistoFINA: Synchronised Swimming - Medals and Statistics" (PDF). FINA. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
2. "Scoreboard". China Daily. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
3. "Americans capture two golds to lead medals table". Dawn. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
4. Llorens, David (8 August 2012). "Fuentes y Carbonell, una plata taquicárdica" [Fuentes and Carbonell, a tachycardic silver]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2016.
5. "Fallece la nadadora Tina Fuentes a los 34 años". 28 August 2018.
6. Torres, Diego (26 January 2013). "Andrea Fuentes se retira de la natación sincronizada" [Andrea Fuentes retires from synchronized swimming]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2016.
7. Casado, Edu (12 November 2014). "Qué fue de… Andrea Fuentes: el éxito de la gran sucesora" [Whatever happened to... Andrea Fuentes: the success of the great successor]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2016.
8. "Andrea Fuentes Olympic Results". sports-reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
9. Tronchoni, Nadia (30 January 2013). "Me entristece ver dos bandos" [It saddens me to see two sides fighting]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2016.
10. "USA Synchro Names Andrea Fuentes New Head Coach Of Senior National Team". USA Synchro. September 14, 2018. Archived from the original on December 1, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
11. "Abdalazem Named National Team Assistant Coach". USA Synchro. November 20, 2018. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
12. Negley, Cassandra (June 23, 2022). "U.S. swimmer Anita Alvarez rescued by coach Andrea Fuentes after fainting during world championship routine". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
13. Das, Andrew (23 June 2022). "She Fainted During the World Championships. Her Coach Came to the Rescue". The New York Times.
14. Fallece la nadadora Tina Fuentes a los 34 años (in Spanish)

External links

• Andrea Fuentes official site
• London 2012 profile Archived 2013-01-04 at archive.today