Fernando Alvarez, a Spanish swimmer born in 1946, leaned over his starting block for his 200m breaststroke heat in the age 70-74 division at the FINA World Masters Championships on Saturday.
But as everybody else dived into the pool in Budapest, Alvarez stood up above lane 4.
There he remained, reportedly observing a full minute of silence for last week’s Barcelona terror attacks that killed at least 15 and injured more than 100.
Before his race, Alvarez reportedly petitioned FINA for an official minute of silence, but swimming’s international governing body said there was no time to fit it into that session’s schedule, according to Spanish media.
However, FINA said on Tuesday that it received no request.
“In case a formal demand was received, FINA would obviously immediately consider the minute of silence,” the organization said in a statement.
Alvarez did eventually dive into the pool but was given no time in official results.
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