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]
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]
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 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]
Synchronized swimming or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World Aquatics. It has traditionally been a women's sport, although FINA introduced a new mixed gender duet competition that included one male swimmer in each duet at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships and LEN introduced men's individual events at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships. From 2024, men will be able to compete in the team event at the Olympics.
Masayo Imura is a Japanese synchronized swimming instructor known as the "mother of synchro". She is currently the head coach of the Japanese National Synchronised Swimming Team.
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Anna Tarrés Campà is a synchronized swimming coach and former national synchronized swimmer from Spain. She competed in the women's duet at the 1984 Summer Olympics. After retiring from competition Tarrés began coaching at her swimming club, CN Kallipolis, in 1987, where she coached Gemma Mengual to international success. In 1997 she was appointed as head coach of the Spanish national synchronised swimming team: during her time in charge the team enjoyed great success, taking four Olympic medals, 26 World Championship medals, and 25 European Championship medals, however in September 2012 the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation informed her that her contract would not be extended beyond the end of the year. Shortly afterwards 15 former members of the team issued a public letter criticising Tarrés for using authoritarian and demeaning behaviour in her role as head coach, although Mengual and national team captain Andrea Fuentes both spoke in Tarrés' defence, and Fuentes subsequently announced her retirement from elite competition in January 2013 due to demotivation as a result of the conflict between Tarrés and the federation. After leaving the Spanish national team Tarrés was appointed as one of the coaches of the Ukrainian national team in 2015.
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Anita Alvarez is an American artistic and synchronized swimmer. Originally from Buffalo, New York, she attended Kenmore West Senior High School, from which she graduated in 2014. She began her professional synchronized swimming career after she graduated.
Lois Mae Toulson is a British diver. A specialist in the 10 metre platform, she won the gold medal at the inaugural European Games in 2015, and the senior European title in 2017. She competed in the women's synchronized ten metre platform event at the 2016 Summer Olympics with Tonia Couch. She won silver in mixed 10m platform synchro at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships with Matty Lee, and gold in the women's synchronized 10 metre platform at the 2018 European Aquatics Championships with Eden Cheng.
Mayuko Fujiki is a synchronized swimming coach originally from Japan. She is the head coach of the Spanish National Synchronized Swimming Team.
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Julie Sauvé was a Canadian synchronized swimming coach. Sauvé began her coaching career with the Club Aquatique Montréal Olympique in the 1970s before joining the Canadian synchronized swimming team in 1982. She continued to coach at the Club Aquatique Montréal Olympique until she was fired in 1993. While with the Canadian synchronized swimming team, Sauvé coached Olympic medallists Sylvie Fréchette, Penny Vilagos and Vicky Vilagos. After leaving the Canadian team in 2012, Sauvé coached the synchronized swimming teams of Brazil and Singapore during the remainder of the 2010s. Sauvé was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 2012.
Deborah Muir is a Canadian former synchronized swimmer and coach. She began her career with the Calgary Aquabelles club in 1965 and won silver medals in the synchronized swimming team competitions at both the 1971 Pan American Games and the 1973 World Aquatics Championships. At age 20, Muir retired from competition and began a career in coaching. She coached swimmers of the Calgary Aquabelles to 22 national titles over a decade. She also helped athletes clinch medals in the World Aquatics Championships, the FINA Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Pan American Games and the Summer Olympic Games. Muir has won various awards for her coaching career, and is an inductee of the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
