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2%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
3%%
4Characters of ''Anime/{{Free}}''. Names are in western order.
5
6'''Spoilers for the events of Season 1 are unmarked. Some major spoilers for films and later seasons may appear in trope names. Proceed with caution.'''
7
8[[foldercontrol]]
9
10[[folder:Main characters in general]]
11 * AnimalMotifs: Each swimmer is associated with a different swimming-style-related animal, while occasionally being associated with other animals such as Momotarou's [[BeetleManiac love for beetles]] and frequent insults of Asahi being compared to a monkey.
12** Haruka -- Dolphin
13** Makoto -- Orca
14** Nagisa -- Penguin
15** Rin -- Shark
16** Rei -- Butterfly
17** Sousuke -- Whale shark
18** Momotarou -- Sea otter [[note]]He also has a fondness for Capybaras, which are semi-aquatic rodents.[[/note]]
19** Aiichirou -- Duck
20** Ikuya -- Beluga whale
21** Asahi -- Ribbon seal [[note]]Initially referred to himself as the "Marlin of Genkainara", but it didn't stick. Marlins are closely related to swordfish.[[/note]]
22** Natsuya -- Tiger shark
23** Nao -- Northern gannet
24** Hiyori -- Polar bear
25** Averted with Kisumi, who is represented by an anchor due to being a non-swimmer.
26*** Unrelated to any particular character, birds are a surprisingly prevalent motif for a series revolving around swimming. The mascot Iwatobi-chan is a bird, and a soaring hawk seems to represent [[TitleDrop free]]dom.
27* ChildhoodFriends: Most of them used to be either elementary school or middle school friends until they went their separate ways (though Haruka and Makoto always went to school together until their college years, they still remain as close as ever).
28* ColorCodedCharacters
29** Haruka = Blue [[note]]Purple on promotional poster, early concept designs, and swimming trunk stripes[[/note]]
30** Makoto = Green
31** Nagisa = Yellow [[note]]Pink on swimming trunk stripes[[/note]]
32** [[ThemeNaming Rin / Gou]] = Red [[note]]Rin represents a darker shade, while Gou represents a lighter tint.[[/note]]
33** Rei = Violet [[note]]Blue on promotional poster and swimming trunk stripes[[/note]]
34** Sousuke = Teal
35** Seijuurou / Momotaro = Orange
36** Aiichirou = Light blue
37** Kisumi = Pink
38** Asahi = Gold [[note]]Often associated with red outside promotional artwork[[/note]]
39** Ikuya = Purple [[note]]Occasionally associated with various shades of dark green and teal[[/note]]
40** Natsuya = Chartreuse
41** Nao = Periwinkle
42** Hiyori = Dark Green
43** Albert = Ivory
44* FemaleGaze: One of the main themes of the anime is 'upper bodies'.
45* GenderBlenderName: All of the members of the Iwatobi Swim Club have gender neutral names that are popular for girls. Incidentally, their female manager Gou and [[spoiler:her future protoge Ayumu]] invert this by having a name usually given to boys. Rin, Aiichirou and Momotarou join in the ThemeNaming as well; while Aiichirou and Momotarou's names are male names, their nicknames "Ai" and "Momo" are used as names for girls. Averted with Seijuurou and Sousuke who both sport very masculine names.
46** As an additional bonus, the pronunciation of Rin and Gou's names form the word "Ringo", the Japanese for "[[EdibleThemeNaming apple]]", which their hair color resembles.
47* HeroicBuild: Justified. Being pro-swimmers, all of the male characters of the series sport the typical V-shaped swimmers's build, along with an exquisitely chiseled body.
48* MrFanservice: Invoked with Gou marveling at their bodies but otherwise, the show never misses the occasion to play to the FemaleGaze and put all the main characters' bodies on full display, including very blatant butt-and-crotch-shots. Even in the face department, all the male characters have definitely attractive features.
49* PermaShave: As is usual for RealLife swimmers, all of them sport no body/face hair. Whether or not they shave or wax isn't brought up in the series.
50* YoungerThanTheyLook: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] for a small portion of the main cast. While almost all of the main characters are around the same age group, some are actually younger than others, but it would probably be hard to guess that.
51** Makoto is actually five months younger than Haruka, which was evident when the two were just children as Haruka was at one point taller than Makoto. Fast forward to the time of their junior high school years and Makoto has been taller ever since.
52** Rei is the exact same height as Rin and has a deeper voice than his teammates, but is younger than Nagisa by four months.
53** Sousuke looks like he could be the oldest of the main cast, but is actually younger than Asahi, Kisumi and Haruka.
54** Momotarou, as well as Shizuru Isurugi in comparison to their seniors Aiichirou and Nagisa. Momo's brother Seijuurou falls in this trope when compared to Natsuya and Nao. He looks and sounds older but is actually a year younger than them.
55[[/folder]]
56
57!!Introduced in ''Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club'' (Season 1)
58[[folder:Haruka Nanase]]
59
60!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/NobunagaShimazaki, Creator/MegumiMatsumoto (young) (Japanese), Creator/ToddHaberkorn, Creator/LaraWoodhull (young) (English), Diego Becerril (adult and young) (Latin American Spanish)
61
62[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/haru1.jpg]]
63[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Freestyle stroke\
64'''Elementary school:''' Iwatobi Elementary School\
65'''Middle school:''' Iwatobi Junior High School\
66'''High school:''' Iwatobi High School\
67'''University:''' Hidaka University]]
68
69The strong, quiet protagonist of the series who has had a strong fixation to water ever since he was a child. Has a natural talent for swimming, but he is usually known to swim freestyle.
70----
71* AffectionateNickname: Is called "Haru" by Makoto and Rin and "[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics Haru-chan]]" by Nagisa. When they were kids, Rin and Nagisa referred to him as "Nanase-kun" before they became close enough to him to call him "Haru/Haru-chan". Makoto actually also used to call him "Haru-chan" before Haruka insisted that he dropped the "-chan", but he will still sometimes calls him that in [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious special situations.]]
72* AnimalMotifs: Dolphins. He even has a dolphin as a bath toy and Nagisa compares him to one.
73* BigGuyLittleGuy: The Little Guy to Makoto's Big Guy. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that he's only "little" compared to Makoto, but they fit other personality characteristics of the trope, such as Haruka being the smaller but less emotional and more intimidating of the two, while Makoto is bigger and taller but gentler and more easily scared.
74* BizarreTasteInFood: Others don't share his interest in mackerel pineapple pizza. That said, even he is disgusted by Nagisa's sweet tooth tendencies, especially when he happily stuffs his face with food laced with protein powder.
75* BreakTheCutie: In ''Starting Days'', all the boys go through this, but Haruka probably deserves special mention, as he cannot cope well with change at all. First [[TheRival Rin]] leaves for Australia, right after the medley relay that had changed his view of swimming, making him feel that Rin didn't care about their friendship/rivalry. He and Makoto are placed in different classes, and Makoto starts growing distant from him and won't explain [[{{Gayngst}} why]]. The other two members of the medley team are uncooperative, and nothing like the previous medley teammates he had. [[spoiler:He starts to eat only his favorite food and nothing else, hinting at being depressed, and his stamina during the tournament drops as a result, which earns Sousuke's ire. Things only improve after he and Makoto talk it out.]]
76* BrilliantButLazy: He may spend his time slacking around, but he is a profoundly gifted swimmer, an excellent artist, and a talented cook.
77* BrutalHonesty: Unafraid to contradict or correct other characters.
78* CatchPhrase: "I swim free or I don't swim at all."
79* CharacterDevelopment: Haruka begins the series depressed and closed-off, essentially relying on Makoto to make sure he actually goes to school and to communicate on his behalf, but gradually he starts to involve himself in things more and more without having to be coaxed, such as personally helping Rei learn to swim (when at first he was ready to reject Rei over his dislike of water), and since opening up to his team in episode 9, Haru's been much more openly emotional, smiling often and being direct in showing concern or appreciation for his friends. Season 2 Haru compared to season 1 Haru is a perfect example of character development.
80* CloudCuckooLander: He likes to swim so much that he spends most of his free time in the bathtub when it's too cold to swim outside. He also has a strange fixation on the school's mascot, Iwatobi-chan.
81* ComfortFood: In ''Starting Days'', [[spoiler:at his lowest point, he only eats mackerel and rice for a few days, refusing to eat the food Makoto brings him. He winds up fainting and needing to be hospitalized.]]
82* TheComicallySerious: This guy can nonchalantly take off his clothes just to swim at all times, with his face completely serene and emotionless.
83* CrazyJealousGuy: Much as he tries to downplay it, he's obviously not happy about seeing other guys hang off of Makoto. In fact, this is why he doesn't really like Kisumi, as he became touchy with Makoto in front of him, even sticking his tongue out at Haru in a gloating manner when they were all still in middle school.
84* CrazyPrepared: He apparently wears his jammers at all times instead of underwear, so he can swim at the drop of a hat (read: If he is not stopped, [[CloudCuckooLander he]] ''[[CloudCuckooLander will]]'' [[CloudCuckooLander strip down to his jammers no matter]] ''[[CloudCuckooLander where]]'' [[CloudCuckooLander he is or]] ''[[CloudCuckooLander who]]'' [[CloudCuckooLander is watching]]).
85* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: His entire character arc during ''Eternal Summer''. [[spoiler:While everyone seems to be moving forward with their lives, it seems that Haru is only wishing for time to stand still so he never has to step out of High School. Not because he wants to [[GrowingUpSucks stay a teenager forever]], but because he wants to have his friends around always and keep on swimming the way he wants to, being free from outside pressure. As he realizes that his friends are all following their own dreams while he obviously has none, as it appears each time more inevitable that they will soon have to part ways, he completely closes off and lashes out whenever asked about his plans for the future.]]
86* DoNotCallMePaul: He prefers to be called "Haru" rather than "Haruka." He also doesn't like it when being called "Haru-chan", as it's childish and he's reminded Makoto more than once, but he seems to have made an exception for Nagisa, if only because Nagisa is too stubborn to drop it and he adds "-chan" to everyone's names anyway.
87* EmbarrassingFirstName: Haruka doesn't like being called by his real name because his name can be feminine and also causes people to confuse him for a girl.
88* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The melancholic of his middle school team (along with Ikuya) as well as among his high school friends.
89* GenderBlenderName: Haruka is a feminine name, and as such he is often mistaken for a girl, so he's usually addressed as "Haru."
90* TheGift: Haruka has not only passion, but also natural talent in swimming.
91* HairFlip: Complete with a good helping of [[BishieSparkle sparkles]].
92* HeroicBSOD: It's revealed in Starting Days that he did not take Rin moving to Australia very well, and it's shown to be a major reason why he's reluctant to join his middle school's swim club. Months later after he reunites with and beats the struggling Rin in a match, Rin breaks down, declares that he quits swimming and runs off, which in turn causes Haru himself to anguish and quit swimming during middle school, right before a major tournament. This, along with Makoto and Asahi being forced to quit due to familial matters, motivates Ikuya to move to America with Natsuya, possibly deepening the pain. From that point on, Haru became depressed, moody, and withdrawn to the point where Makoto had to make sure that he went to school. He slowly gets better years later once his high school's swim club is formed. However..
93** He has one at the end of Episode 7 of season one, after Rin defeats him in their qualifying relay and claims he will never swim with Haru again. He gets better after his team gives him a comforting pep-talk message on his phone. And Makoto [[HomoeroticSubtext asleep on the floor waiting for him]] helped as well.
94* HeterosexualLifePartners: Haruka has been close to Makoto ever since childhood and they are almost always at the other's side. Even after graduating from high school and attending different universities, he and Makoto still moved to Tokyo together and constantly visit each other.
95* HiddenDepths:
96** He is a surprisingly good artist; the art club try to steal him away after witnessing his rather impressive poster advertising the swimming club. His detailed sketch of Iwatobi-chan isn't half-bad either.
97** Not to mention [[BelligerentSexualTension whatever's going on]] [[FoeRomanceSubtext between him and Rin]].
98* IcyBlueEyes: Fits with his character color. Also goes to show his 'cool' personality.
99* IJustWantToBeNormal: Says he can't wait to be ordinary in the first scene of him as a teenager. However, when Rin shows up, he thinks being ordinary can wait a while.
100* InnocentFanserviceGuy: He's not stripping to show off, he just ''really'' needs to be in the pool ''this instant''.
101* InSeriesNickname: "Haru", which he is often addressed as to get past his [[GenderBlenderName feminine-sounding name]].
102* KindheartedCatLover: Though not as openly kind, Haruka has been seen playing with the neighborhood's cat and feeding strays with extra mackerel.
103* MeaningfulName: The second kanji in his surname means "current" or "shallows".
104* MinorLivingAlone: Haruka lives alone in his late grandmother's house, although Makoto does live right down the street. Haruka's parents [[ParentalAbandonment moved away for work]], and his grandmother died sometime later. By ''Take Your Marks'', he has become a university student and now lives alone as an adult.
105* NonNudeBathing: He has a habit of sitting in the bathtub with his swimsuit on when it isn't warm enough to swim outside.
106* NoSocialSkills: Haruka is nice enough on the inside, but doesn't converse much and usually needs Makoto to speak his mind for him. That and his intense obsession with water sets him apart from others. As the series goes on, he becomes less socially awkward.
107* NotSoAboveItAll: Stoic demeanor aside, he blushes and his eyes widen whenever Makoto mentions a cool new pool he can try out. Makoto nearly drowning in Episode 5 shows us another side of him, too.
108* NotSoStoic:
109** Though mild at first he shows signs of being worried over Makoto's fear of the ocean in Episode 5. During the near-drowning incident we see him losing his cool and actually shaking with fear while Makoto is still unconscious. Thankfully, he manages to work through it.
110** It becomes even more noticeable at the end of Episode 7. He looks so genuinely hurt when Rin says he won't ever swim with him again, causing Haru to become troubled over his own motivations to swim. But by the end of it, Haru does get better thanks to Nagisa, Rei, and Gou sending him a worried voicemail and finding Makoto waiting for him to come home.
111** The latter half of Episode 9 shows Haru with far more emotion when he admits he felt happy to swim with the others. It gets to the point where calling him "stoic" is debatable.
112** By the last episode he's gone from [[http://www.anime-planet.com/images/characters/haruka_nanase_free_i_51625.jpg this]] to [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/637c9a2681500575ee3bd8a0b5994ec7/tumblr_mtp4a8SfOp1s17w80o1_500.gif this]].
113** Episode 9 of ''Eternal Summer'' [[spoiler:shows Haru actually angry enough to punch a locker and yell at Rin]].
114* OneNoteCook: [[ImpliedTrope Implied.]] He is a great cook as mentioned in SupremeChef below, but so far, everything he makes is related to [[TrademarkFavoriteFood mackerel.]]
115* ParentalAbandonment: A relatively mild case, but he's alone in his house because his father left for business and his mother decided to go with him. His mother makes an appearance in ''Starting Days'', so his parents probably left after middle school.
116* PerpetualFrowner: He rarely smiles.
117* TheQuietOne: The least talkative of the group, his words are usually brief. He talks more in later episodes, when he has opened up more.
118* RealMenWearPink: He knows how to cook and in the 2015 "Top 20 Characters Otaku Want to Marry" he wound up placing 18th in the "Ideal ''Wife''" category.
119* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to [[TheRival Rin's]] red.
120* SecurityBlanket: In ''High Speed!'', Haruka admits to himself that water comforts him when he is upset or when there is a distressing situation he can't do anything about (for instance, Rin moving to Australia when Haru was just warming up to him).
121* ShamelessFanserviceGuy: All he wants to do is swim, but at each opportunity, his clothes just so happen to be in the way and he doesn't care where he is when he takes them off.
122* ShowerOfAngst: He takes one after losing to Rin at prefecturals. You know it's bad when Haru is surrounded by water and still miserable.
123* SignificantBirthDate: Born on June 30th - the same date as Michael Phelps.
124* TheStoic: Especially in the first season, Haruka almost never changes his expression and looks emotionless most of the time. Later on, he smiles more often but still mostly maintains a straight face.
125* SugarAndIcePersonality: He's very quiet and distant, but deep down he's a big old ball of sensitive fluff. This is more apparent in later episodes and especially in the third season, where plenty of CharacterDevelopment leads him to become much warmer.
126* SupremeChef: Haru is an excellent cook, and always has been, according to Nagisa. One of the audio dramas follows Haru teaching Makoto how to make mackerel braised in miso sauce; all the while, Makoto continually remarks on Haru's cool competence and air of professionalism as he works. The finished dish (which Haru turns into mackerel fried rice, in the end, as Makoto is a [[LethalChef dedicated but somewhat hapless culinary student]]) is apparently delicious, judging by Makoto's rave review of it.
127* TallDarkAndSnarky: More of case of being blunt than snarky, but still there.
128* TeamChef: See SupremeChef above.
129* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Performer to Rei (and to a lesser extent Rin)'s Technician; he doesn't care about entry angles or initial velocity or even improving his time, he just wants to swim. And he's good at it.
130* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Mackerel. So much that if Haruka was stuck in a deserted island, and he could only bring one thing, it'd be canned mackerel. On one of the drama [=CD=]s, the boys discuss [[HomoeroticSubtext which one of them they'd each go out with if they were girls]]. Haruka initially says he'd pick Makoto because it's "easiest"... but when Nagisa says he'd cook mackerel for Haruka every morning, he changes his mind.
131* TsurimeEyes: He has sharp upward-slanted eyes which emphasize his stoical and intimidating nature, especially when combined with IcyBlueEyes, and in contrast with Makoto's gentler TaremeEyes.
132* WhenHeSmiles:
133** In Episode 9 and Episode 13 of season 2, where he [[spoiler: along with Makoto, Nagisa and Rei, wins the national relay.]]
134** In one of the "[=FrFr!=]" short movies included on the DVD releases of the series, Rei notes that he has never heard Haru laugh out loud; only Makoto recalls ever hearing Haru laugh, back when they were children. This revelation prompts Rei, Rin, Makoto, and Nagisa to tackle Haru and begin tickling him relentlessly in a [[MustMakeHerLaugh Must Make Him Laugh]] ploy. Haru struggles against their efforts, but eventually bursts out laughing -- cue the other swimmers' stunned, blushing expressions, as it turns out that Haru's laugh is ''heartrendingly'' sweet and adorable.
135* WholesomeCrossdresser: He doesn't care what he has to wear as long as he just wants to swim. On a minimum of two occasions - including the very day they first met - when Nagisa's sisters switched out his trunks with a girl's one-piece swimsuit, Haru lent Nagisa his own trunks and then wore the one-piece for swimming without complaint.
136[[/folder]]
137
138[[folder:Makoto Tachibana]]
139
140!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TatsuhisaSuzuki, Creator/SatsukiYukino (young) (Japanese), Creator/JohnnyYongBosch (English), Eleazar Muñoz (adult and young) (Latin American Spanish)
141
142[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/makoto1.jpg]]
143[[caption-width-right:200:'''Specialty:''' Backstroke\
144'''Elementary school:''' Iwatobi Elementary School\
145'''Middle school:''' Iwatobi Junior High School\
146'''High school:''' Iwatobi High School\
147'''University:''' Meijo Chuo University]]
148
149
150Haruka's best friend since childhood. Caring, considerate, but easily frightened, he took on the initial role as the Iwatobi swim team's first captain after its revival and has since become a swim coach for the Tokyo Swimming Club.
151----
152* AffectionateNickname: Is called "Mako-chan" by Nagisa. Makoto himself calls Haruka "Haru", and "Haru-chan" back in childhood and sometimes in [[YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious special occasions.]]
153* AnimalMotifs: Orcas. It becomes more meaningful in Episode 6 when his feelings about swimming reflect the nature of orcas [[TrueCompanions conquering the largest distances as a pod]].
154* BeYourself: In ''Starting Days'', Makoto feels that he should change now that he's in middle school, but eventually ends up trying too hard. He ultimately learns to be okay with who he is.
155* BewareTheNiceOnes: On a few separate occasions, Makoto can look... quite unnerving, such as when rumor had it that Rei was quitting the swim team and when he thinks he's trapped both Sousuke and Haruka during his water gun fight. Too bad he's not good at keeping an intimidating front.
156** When Hiyori, a backstroke swimmer, is angrily challenged by Haruka to a race for Ikuya's friendship and proceeds to taunt him, Makoto noticeably takes offense and immediately takes the challenge in his friend's place, even going as far as clenching his fist.
157* TheBigGuy: He's the tallest and most muscular member of the Iwatobi Swim Club.
158* BromanticFoil: Makoto, as the stoic Haruka's understanding best friend, apparently has to speak for him when Haruka refuses or acts too distant for anyone else to figure out his intentions.
159* CharacterTics: He often complements his trademark smile by way of shutting his eyes and tipping his head forward or to the side. He seems to have [[SharedFamilyQuirks picked the habit up from his mother]].
160* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: He's generally the one to try and stop Haruka from stripping. [[EstablishingCharacterMoment Established]] in one of the first scenes, in which he shows up at Haruka's house to see why he's not going to school. He also knows how to get Haruka to cooperate with their plans when the latter is being stubborn (generally by mentioning an opportunity to swim).
161* CoolBigBro: His younger twin siblings both adore and admire him.
162* CurbStompBattle: His race with Haru ends up with him losing by a considerable margin.
163** Played straight all the way at least until the end of his sumo wrestling match where he is on the receiving end and ends up barely winning. Justified in that sumo wrestlers are “extremely” muscular having ''vast'' amounts of muscle underneath their fat, whereas Makoto is instead toned and lean.
164* DarkAndTroubledPast: He developed a fear of the ocean as a child, as a result of an old fisherman Makoto befriended and his crew drowning during a typhoon. Just some time before, the fisherman gave him the pet goldfishes he wanted to catch from a summer festival, but they eventually died even with all the proper care Makoto did to ensure they lived long. However, he copes with that fear because he wanted to swim together with Haruka and the others.
165* TheDutifulSon: In a {{Flashback}} from ''Take Your Marks'', Makoto tells Ikuya he is quitting the swim team because he has to take care of his siblings, and since he has to pick them up from kindergarten every day after school, he won't be able to put in time for practice.
166* FaceYourFears: He's willing to hide his fear for the sake of the team. When Rei needs saving in the ocean, Makoto hurries out to save him. He goes under and needs to be rescued himself, but he grows more confident with the support of his friends.
167* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The phlegmatic of his middle school and high school friends.
168* FriendToAllChildren: He's very good with kids. His younger twin siblings Ran and Ren adore him, and he does a great job as a temporary swimming coach to a group of kids in episode 8 of ''Eternal Summer'', even helping Kisumi's brother Hayato conquer his fear of swimming. This along with encounter with Misaki Kuramoto in ''Take Your Marks'' eventually motivate him to become a sports trainer. By the time of ''Dive to the Future'', he gains another opportunity as a swim coach (with Misaki becoming on of his students) while in Tokyo.
169* GarbageWrestler: When wrestling as Iwatobi’s mascot. Being the brawniest member of his swim team makes him most suited to wrestle for Iwatobi. However, he struggles while wrestling a rival mascot during a mere preliminary match. Despite stressing his body to its utmost limit and straining all his muscles to their absolute peak he is unable to move his opponent a scintilla and is instead dominated without much effort. It’s only by using swimming backstrokes is he able to fortunately catch his opponent off guard and land a surprise attack that ends the match. Justified in that he's a 6 foot, 161 pound high school swimmer competing against big bodybuilder types in a national competition, so he would be scrawny by sumo wrestling standards.
170* GentleGiant: One of the biggest and tallest characters within the main cast, and ties with Nao as the most gentle.
171* GreaterNeedThanMine: Despite his own insecurities, he still focuses on others' problems before his own, a habit that annoys Haru.
172* HeroicBSOD: In ''Starting Days'', he suffers one when Nao asks him if he really likes swimming, [[spoiler:and not just because of Haruka]].
173* HeterosexualLifePartners: He certainly fits the "life-partner" part, as he and Haruka constantly stick to each other like glue.
174* {{Hunk}}: He is more of a {{Bishonen}}, but he qualifies as one due to his build and height.
175* {{Irony}}:
176** Makoto is a head taller than Haruka, but he's actually 5 months younger than him.
177** Makoto has a tendency to hide behind Haruka when he's scared even when he's the taller and bigger one of the two. The flashbacks to their childhood show that Haruka was taller when they were kids, though, so this is probably his unconscious habit.
178** Although he's the kindest and most gentle member of the club, his speech pattern is the rough masculine type comparable to the way Rin or Haruka talks, rather than Rei's [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseLanguage keigo]]. It's shown in ''Starting Days'' that he picked up this pattern after starting middle school in an attempt to seem more mature (including changing his personal pronoun from [[UsefulNotes/JapanesePronouns "boku" to "ore"]]), but his soft nature remains and contrasts the way he speaks.
179** He is a {{foil}} to Sousuke, with him being a GentleGiant and Sousuke being TheBigGuy. Despite this, Sousuke reveals in ''The Final Stroke'' that he was genuinely intimidated by Makoto during the survival game, when he cornered Sousuke when he ran out of water. Sousuke says that was [[BewareTheNiceOnes a very unexpected side of Makoto]].
180* KindheartedCatLover: In Makoto's first scene, he greets and pets a kitten. He's later seen playing with it. In contrast, he seemed to be afraid of dogs, as the ''Timeless Medley'' movie shows him being frightened of a puppy and hiding behind Haruka.
181* LegFocus: His triceps are toned to the point it has etched a permanent impression on Gou’s mind. She can even recognize him just by watching them flexed. She recognises him through his Iwatobi mascot costume by his flexed calves alone.
182* LethalChef: The poor guy can't cook ''at all''; the lunches he brings to school each day come courtesy of his mother. In one of the audio dramas, he asks Haru to teach him to cook something so that he can feed the twins while his parents are out celebrating their wedding anniversary. The lesson doesn't exactly go smoothly, and Makoto's rather unappetizing first foray into cuisine (a very salty variation on mackerel braised in miso sauce) only proves salvageable after all on account of Haru's own SupremeChef skills and quick thinking.
183* LovableCoward: [[http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1457/makoscared.png For sure.]] It's not difficult to scare him, as Nagisa knows, but he's easily the most caring member of the cast.
184* LuminescentBlush: He blushes hard in embarrassment while doing the {{Fanservice}} club recruiting idea Gou thought of.
185* NiceGuy: Easily the kindest and gentlest of the main cast and the person who holds his swimming team together.
186* NotAMorningPerson: His younger siblings have to come wake him up in the mornings due to his tendency to oversleep.
187* NotSoAboveItAll: Makoto manages to maintain an air of maturity and steadfastness most of the time, but underneath his peaceful, nurturing surface, he's an outgoing, goofy nerd at heart. When he begins to enthuse over "Super Fusion Doppelganger" (most likely a SuperSentaiStance their elementary school swim club did together, by the sound of it) and launches into a demonstration thereof in the first episode, even ''Nagisa'' moans that he's being embarrassing.
188* OneHeadTaller: He's the tallest member of Iwatobi's swim team, and he's a head taller than Haru and Nagisa.
189* OnlySaneMan: It's easy to see him as this when you see what kinds of shenanigans his friends go on.
190* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: You know things are off when Makoto doesn't offer to lift Haruka out of the pool.
191* PerpetualSmiler: His default expression is a good-natured smile, befitting his sweet and friendly personality.
192* RedOniBlueOni: His kind and gentle nature makes him the Blue to his teammates' Red, but he is the Red compared to [[TheStoic Haruka]]'s Blue.
193* ReluctantFanserviceGuy: Generally averted, but he is clearly embarrassed when he has to strip down to his swimsuit and show off his physique and his backstroke to the entire school in season 2.
194* TheRival: Both [[AvertedTrope averted]] and [[DefiedTrope defied]] when it comes to him and Haruka. Their relationship is explicitly and especially emphasized to not be competitive and they are both more contented in supporting each other.
195* RunningGag: The first episodes of all 3 seasons have him extended his hand to a Haruka in the pool while calling him "Haru-chan". He even does so in the ''Starting Days'' movie.
196* SecurityCling: Makoto has a tendency to hide behind Haru and hold on his shoulders when he's scared, ever since childhood and even now, when they are both university students.
197* SleepCute: Well, more like "Wake Up Cute". He probably gives his younger siblings, the twins Ren and Ran, a run for their money with [[http://s935.photobucket.com/user/Downsider51/media/Bildschirmfoto2013-08-28um234218_zpscb690f22.png.html this]].
198* TheSocialExpert: This is especially obvious in comparison to [[NoSocialSkills Haruka]], but out of the Iwatobi swim club he’s the one with the most normal way of speaking and the easiest person to talk to. It’s not that the others are unfriendly, but Nagisa can be ''too'' overly forward at times, Rei, when comfortable enough, can be a bit too dramatic, Gou can potentially weird people out with her muscle fetish, and Haruka... is Haruka. Makoto however can talk to pretty much anyone civilly and normally and he can be friendly with almost everyone.
199* StepfordSmiler: In ''Starting Days'', Makoto starts doing this to hide his anxiety [[spoiler:over his conflicting feelings about being independent from Haruka]]. Unfortunately, Haruka can see right through it.
200* StrongFamilyResemblance: Makoto resembles both his father and mother: his hair color is a mix of both, he's got his father's hair shape and gender but his facial features seem to take more after [[http://animeperson.com/images/character/37543a995a.jpg his mother]], who looks like an older female version of his and also shares his habit of smiling with his eyes shut while tilting his head to the side.
201* SweetTooth: He seems to have a pronounced weakness for chocolate.
202* TaremeEyes: His eyes subtly droop downwards and have a warm green color, which fits his kind nature, especially in contrast to Haruka's [[TsurimeEyes sharper]] [[IcyBlueEyes blue eyes.]]
203* TeamMom: A gender-flipped example. He's much more nurturing and always looking after the emotional welfare of his teammates. Arguably, Gou plays more of the Team Dad role than he does.
204* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: [[spoiler: In the ''Starting Days'' movie, when Haruka faints due to lack of sugar leading to low blood pressure, Makoto frantically calls him "Haru-chan".]] He also generally uses "Haru-chan" when he feels especially emotional with Haruka.
205[[/folder]]
206
207[[folder:Nagisa Hazuki]]
208
209!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TsubasaYonaga, Creator/SatomiSato (young) (Japanese). Creator/GregAyres (English), Bruno Coronel (adult and young) (Latin American Spanish)
210
211[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nagisa1.jpg]]
212[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Breaststroke\
213'''Elementary school:''' Iwatobi Elementary School\
214'''Middle school:''' Unnamed middle school\
215'''High school:''' Iwatobi High School\
216'''University:''' Naribusawa University]]
217
218
219A cheerful, direct, and playful younger childhood friend of Haruka, Makoto, and Rin. He is responsible for reviving the swim club in the first place and also played a major part in Rei joining the high school's swim team.
220
221----
222* AgentPeacock:
223** [[http://i.imgur.com/jEwOLT2.jpg Look at his jammers!]]
224** He's dressed incredibly flamboyantly (more so than the rest) in the ED, in colorful gauze and bangles.
225* AnimalMotifs: Penguins. They're even on his ''underwear''!
226* BigEater: Watch as he makes almost half a pizza disappear in less than a minute!
227* BookDumb: Somewhat. He is pretty smart and he has no trouble studying - everyone is very surprised at how badly his grades have dropped - it's just that studying AT ALL evokes bad memories of his middle school years. Thus he avoids it as much as possible and his grades plummet.
228* CheerfulChild: A male version of this [[https://25.media.tumblr.com/b658b7e305b56c206ad01848360bbacb/tumblr_mpe6y5rpMR1rorbzqo1_500.gif when he was young]]. Turns out he wasn't always so cheerful; he said himself in the drama CD that he used to be a crybaby and was bullied often due to his GenderBlenderName. If that wasn't bad enough, his sisters forced him into dressing up in girls' clothes and he was often teased to the point of tears. He became cheerful after meeting Haruka.
229* CloudCuckooLander: For example, one of the main reasons he tries to recruit Rei is because he, too, has a GenderBlenderName.
230* CuddleBug: The most physically affectionate of the cast, he tends to suddenly snuggle up to others. Especially Haruka or Rei.
231* TheCutie: His mannerisms makes him be seen as this.
232* DraggedIntoDrag: He has three older sisters and when he was younger, they'd often dress him up in girl clothes and have him wear makeup, even packing one of their one-piece swimsuits into his swim bag. It's entirely possible that they still do dress him up since they put another one of their swimsuits in his swim bag when he was in ''high school''. While Haru's taken the girl's one-piece to wear and let Nagisa borrow his swim trunks at least twice, presumably there's been at least a few times where Haru wasn't there and Nagisa had to wear the one-piece himself.
233* DumbBlonde: Appears to be this based on personality, but demonstrates a more cunning side.
234* [[EducationMama Education Mama and Papa]]: His parents are very demanding when it comes to academic success, [[spoiler:often at the expense of Nagisa's happiness. They enrolled him in a very strict middle school where he did nothing but study, and they only allowed him to transfer to Iwatobi with his friends when they noticed how unmotivated and miserable Nagisa was feeling. When his grades in Iwatobi drop, they tell him to quit the swimming club and focus on his studies.]]
235* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The sanguine of the five high school friends.
236* FunPersonified: One of his character songs is about having a fun time. His adventurous attitude is what gets the plot going. [[spoiler:This may be because his parents were incredibly strict about his studies back in middle school, to the point that he had nothing fun in his life.]]
237* TheGadfly: Often plays around with Makoto and Rei. He's also fond of poking fun at Gou's name.
238* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Nagisa has penguins on all his underwear.
239* TheHeart: He's the reason the Iwatobi swim club was resurrected, tries his level best to make sure everyone gets along, and has amazing interpersonal skills. [[http://aitaikimochi.tumblr.com/post/113882760126 Not even Sousuke can resist him.]]
240* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Rei. They become very close friends after Rei joins the team, and are almost always together.
241* InsistentTerminology: No matter who they are, if Nagisa has known them for a considerable amount of time, he will eventually call them by their first name or nickname with a [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics "chan"]] attached to it. This is most notable with Haruka: while Haruka insists on Makoto to drop the "-chan" and just to call him "Haru", he gives up on asking Nagisa to do the same, due to Nagisa not seeing why he should. Nagisa eventually does ask if he should start being more formal in season 3.
242* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: His room is... girly, to say the least, and he owns a pink cell-phone; apparently, being forced to dress up like a girl and wear make-up by his older sisters helped him awaken his feminine side. To say the ''most'' about his room, it was based off of a [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/74/97/f2/7497f2a9c8745514bd5fa50f4e96a942.jpg furniture catalog photograph]] of a model bedroom for girls. In one of the drama [=CD=]s, he mentions that his sisters have repeatedly switched his swimsuit with one of their own, so presumably he's worn a girl's one-piece bathing suit to practice on at least a few occasions.
243* UsefulNotes/JapaneseHonorifics: Nagisa refers to everyone with the honorific "-chan", which is used to express closeness, fondness, and affection. "-chan" is typically added to the end of a girl's name, but can be added to a boy's name. Ironically, Nagisa is the only one of his inner circle of friends not to be referred with the honorific "-chan", instead, he is the only one to be given the honorific "-kun" which is basically the same as "-chan" but is typically given to boys, and Rei is the only one to refer to him as "Nagisa-kun".
244* {{Keet}}: He is generally energetic, cheerful and bubbly.
245* MeaningfulName: "Nagisa" means "beach" or "seashore".
246* NeverGetsFat: Consumes a lot of sugar and carbs on a regular basis yet maintains his HeroicBuild like its nothing.
247* NiceGuy: He acts kindly towards everyone and gets along with a lot of people.
248* TheNicknamer: See InsistentTerminology above.
249** Haruka = "Haru-chan".
250** Makoto = "Mako-chan" or simply Mako in the dub.
251** Rin = "Rin-chan/Rin-Rin".
252** Rei = "Rei-chan".
253** Gou = "Gou-chan".
254** He calls Nitori "Ai-chan," or "Ai-Ai" as shown in both the premiere and sixth episode of season 2, much to his annoyance.
255** He calls Sousuke "Sou-chan" or "So-So" in the post-season 2 OVA.
256* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Nagisa gets pretty touchy-feely with his friends, Rei receiving the brunt of it.
257* OlderThanTheyLook: Downplayed. Appears younger than the other four, but is actually older than Rei.
258* OutOfFocus: Since ''Dive to the Future'' focuses on Haru's life in college (whereas Rei and Nagisa are still in high school), Nagisa has been relegated to being one of ThoseTwoGuys with Rei with them being the episode preview commentators in an attempt to keep them relevant.
259* ThePollyanna: Quite the cheerful one.
260* ThePrankster: He often pulls pranks on others for laughs. He successfully pulls a DuckSeasonRabbitSeason on Gou, regarding her name, constantly tries to get Rei to wear speedos, which he dislikes, pretends to be Haru while hiding in his bathtub to scare Makoto, pretends to be a teacher asking Rei to answer a question when he was AsleepInClass and the list keeps going…
261* TheRunaway: [[spoiler:He briefly runs away from home after his parents try to force him to quit the swim club.]]
262* ShamelessFanserviceGuy: He has no problem with getting naked to play around in the pool.
263* SkinnyDipping: He does this in the first episode.
264* SleepCute:
265** He falls asleep on a train and his head rests on Haruka's shoulder.
266** The picture at the end of Episode 3 has him doing this with Rei.
267* SmarterThanYouLook: Can be very manic and dreamy, but shows good planning and interpersonal skills. Despite how childish he seems, he can be very mature, and he scored a 98 on one of his exams.
268* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: After not seeing him for 3 years, Haruka and Makoto recognize him when he addresses them as "Haru-chan" and "Mako-chan".
269* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler:In episode 5 of Season 2. See Education Mama above.]]
270* SweetTooth: He is ''extremely'' fond of sweets, especially anything that includes strawberries or is strawberry-flavoured. He even piles strawberry-flavoured protein powder onto some noodles in episode 8 of ''Eternal Summer'', much to Makoto and Rei's disgust.
271* TearsOfJoy: During episode 12, he cries tears of happiness when their team wins the relay with Rin.
272* TechnicolorEyes: Pink.
273[[/folder]]
274
275[[folder:Rei Ryugazaki]]
276
277!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DaisukeHirakawa, Creator/YokoHikasa (young) (Japanese), Creator/JMichaelTatum (English), Dan Frausto (adult and young) (Latin American Spanish)
278
279[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rei1_0.jpg]]
280[[caption-width-right:200:'''Specialty:''' Butterfly stroke\
281'''High school:''' Iwatobi High School\
282'''University:''' Shimogami University]]
283
284
285An intelligent, serious newcomer to the original four circle of friends, originally part of the track and field team, but eventually albeit reluctantly joined the swim club after being pulled into it by Nagisa. After seeing Haruka swim ''beautifully'', he is then given more motivation to stay with the team.
286
287----
288* AcademicAthlete: Both a bookworm and a sports star.
289* AgentPeacock: In the ED, with his bright red feather cap and a rifle. In the show itself, he wears a brightly-colored speedo at first, and in one scene a body suit covered in purple butterflies (his animal theme). He's also even more muscular than the others, and an excellent pole-vaulter.
290* AlliterativeName: '''R'''ei '''R'''yugazaki.
291* AnimalMotifs: Butterfly. It's also the only stroke he can do, at least until he's tutored exhaustively in the second season.
292* AwesomenessByAnalysis: He uses physics to get ahead in track. However, it's shown that doing this doesn't always help him, especially when he tries to apply it to swimming.
293* {{Bookworm}}: Shown in more than one scene to be reading a book.
294* CantHoldHisLiquor: In ''Road to the World,'' cookies with liquor in them were enough to accidentally get him drunk.
295* CelibateHero: He claims to see love as illogical.
296* CharacterTics: Nudging his glasses. [[http://gfycat.com/GoldenEmptyHoneycreeper Even if he isn't wearing them.]]
297* ChewingTheScenery: "Over-the-top" does not even ''begin'' to describe him, especially when he's upset... which is about half the time he's onscreen.
298* TheComicallySerious: Most of Rei's humor comes from the fact that he takes ''everything'' so damn seriously.
299* CoolShades: Wears orange wraparounds with his track uniform.
300* CripplingOverspecialization: Butterfly is the ''only'' stroke he can perform properly. He sinks to the bottom with the other three strokes, and it's really weighing him down in episode 3 of ''Eternal Summer''. [[spoiler:He does improve on it though, thanks to having private lessons with Rin.]]
301* TheDandy: A variation; he's not afraid to work out, but he's obsessed with ''looking beautiful'' as he does so, which is the reason for his initial rejection of swimming, since in his mind the sport involves a lot of unsightly body undulation and desperately gasping for air. Another reason his choosing butterfly is baffling--along with being ridiculously difficult for a beginner, it's probably the hardest to make look pretty.
302* EmbarrassingNickname: In the preview for episode 11, Rin refers to him as "Speedo Glasses", the "Speedo" part referencing the fact that he was wearing a speedo when he first met Rin; Rei is embarrassed hearing this to say the least.
303* EpicFail: His attempts to swim anything other than butterfly in Season 1. ''Especially'' the "dive" (read: flop) into Samezuka's pool at their first joint practice.
304* {{Expy}}: Blue hair, glasses, [[TheSmartGuy the smart one in the group]] with dorky side, and can't swim at first to lesser extent. Grown-up [[Anime/DigimonAdventure Kido Joe]]?
305* ForgotICouldntSwim: [[YouDidntAsk He tries to hide]] that he doesn't know how to swim and attempts to compensate by analyzing how it's done. It doesn't work.
306* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The choleric of the five high school friends.
307* HeroicSacrifice: Not the death kind, obviously. In episode 12, he gives up his spot on the relay team so Rin can swim with his teammates again.
308* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Nagisa. After Rei joins the team, they become close friends and are usually seen working or hanging out together. Although the heterosexual part is very much debatable in his case.
309* IdiotBall: Episode 5. Despite being a raw beginner who's only ''just'' learned to swim, Rei decides to do some extra long-distance swim training alone, in the ocean, in the middle of the night when everyone else is in bed, and does not so much as bother to leave a note about where he's gone. Then a random storm rolls in...
310* KirkSummation: Gives a passionate one against Rin in episode 11, questioning why he decided to do a relay against Iwatobi when Rin swore not to swim with Haruka again.
311* LargeHam: He tends to be this when he's particularly worked up about something, namely sports.
312* OpaqueLenses: Whenever he gets flustered.
313* OutOfFocus: Since ''Dive to the Future'' focuses on Haru's life in college (whereas Rei and Nagisa are still in high school), Rei has been relegated to being one of ThoseTwoGuys with Nagisa with them being the episode preview commentators in an attempt to keep them relevant.
314* ReluctantFanserviceGuy: He is forced to wear a speedo initially and when he decides he needs a new swimsuit, Nagisa keeps bringing more and more speedos. He is also horrified by how casually Nagisa suggests they should strip down and flex around to get more new club members.
315* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: While tailing Rin at the festival, he goes ''Sasasasa!''. A clear master of stealth.
316* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: He was not in the original PV, only showing up in the second ad. This means he missed out on most of the giant "SWIMMING ANIME!!!" pre-release hype, and has had much less advertisement than the other characters so far. People who aren't watching the anime probably only heard about the original four boys.
317* SixthRanger: An odd case. According to the cast biography, not only did he recently switch from track to swim team, he's the only person not a part of the original ChildhoodFriends ensemble, and thus likely to have the perspective of an outsider. It's possible that Rin could fill in the role instead, though, as the same biography points out that his former childhood friends feel as if they don't understand him anymore. Because of this status he actually shares some different, oddly refreshing, views compared to his teammates. ''Especially'' with things related to Rin. His thoughts on Rin aren't tinted with nostalgia, so he's a little harsher in his opinions on Rin's obnoxious {{Jerkass}} behavior. He's also the only one to notice and actually feel put out by the fact that the team's original goal to do well in the nationals has become related to beating/keeping up with Rin, instead of just having a good time and being proud of what they can achieve.
318* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: Played with. He is excellent at deduction, math, and applying formulas, but often acts like an enormous dork.
319* StoicSpectacles: Subverted by being a {{Tsundere}}, as well as a LargeHam.
320* SuperDrowningSkills: He can float, but that's about it; he compares himself to a submarine.
321* TechnicianVersusPerformer: Other characters (including his track coach) point out that he pays too much attention to form, theory, and calculation, and it won't help him improve in either track or swimming. He gets inspired to join the swim club upon watching Haru, who is a performer through and through.
322* TechnicolorEyes: His are ''purple''.
323* TookALevelInBadass: He goes from someone who can't swim at all to the Captain of Iwatobi swim club.
324* {{Tsundere}}: Appears to be a Type A.
325[[/folder]]
326
327[[folder:Rin Matsuoka]]
328
329!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MamoruMiyano, Creator/AkenoWatanabe (young) (Japanese), Creator/VicMignogna, Creator/AustinTindle (''Dive to the Future'' ep. 0 onward)[[note]]Recorded after later episodes[[/note]], Creator/MaxeyWhitehead (young) (English), Miguel Ángel Leal (adult and young) (Latin American Spanish)
330
331[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rin1.jpg]]
332[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Butterfly stroke, freestyle stroke\
333'''Elementary school:''' Sano Elementary School, Iwatobi Elementary School\
334'''Middle school:''' Unnamed middle school in Australia\
335'''High school:''' Samezuka Academy\
336'''University:''' Unnamed university in Australia]]
337
338
339One of Haruka's childhood friends and his main rival, who went overseas for three years and initially returned with a different personality. Attended Iwatobi's rival school, Samezuka Academy, where he became the captain of the team during his final year. He trained in [[JackOfAllStats all four swimming styles]] as a kid, specializing in butterfly. He focuses on free stroke during the events of the anime so he can compete against [[TheRival Haruka]], but swims both freestyle and butterfly individually.
340
341----
342* TheAce: Of Samezuka's team in ''Eternal Summer'', when he's the captain. He sets multiple records, is highly sought-after by universities, and is only ever matched or beaten by Sousuke (in butterfly, unofficially) or Haru (in freestyle).
343* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: This is how he generally comforts, compliments and shows affection towards his younger teammates and friends (namely Nagisa, Nitori and Momo).
344* AngerBornOfWorry: What sets off [[spoiler:the argument that he and Haru have in the episode 9 of ''Eternal Summer''. After Haru stops midway during the regional event race, giving into the pressure of the recent scouting and identifying his future, Rin angerly confronts him about it, making him aware that he and the others don't want to see Haru risk his future for his own selfishness]].
345* AlwaysSecondBest:
346** Since childhood, he's been regarded as second in skill after Haruka, a point that drives him to travel overseas to swim.
347** He was thoroughly outclassed by nearly all of his fellow swimmers in Australia, which crippled his self-confidence and his desire to swim.
348* AloofBigBrother: Gou worries about his well-being throughout Season 1, but he rarely interacts with her and is almost as dismissive of his sister as he is of his old friends. He communicates more in ''Eternal Summer'', but Sousuke does chide him and say he should pay more attention to her.
349* AnimalsHateHim: Rin likes cats, but cats hate him. In one drama CD, he enlists Makoto's help to befriend a cat who keeps scratching him. Rin's cat, Steve, even hates him, since he's always seen running away from him whenever he tries to pet him. This is only true for cats, however. In ''Dive to the Future'', when he is jogging in Australia, a corgi greets him and he briefly plays with it.
350* AnimalMotifs: Occasionally referred to as a shark due to his competitive nature; also resembles one via his teeth.
351* AnxietyDreams[=/=]DreamingOfTimesGoneBy: In episode 7, he has one that begins with his younger self and Gou walking with their father's funeral procession after he died in a typhoon. It proceeds from there with his fear that he'll always be [[AlwaysSecondBest second to Haru]], and that by extension he'll never be able to carry on his father's Olympic dreams.
352* BerserkButton: An easy way to get under his skin? Just point out that he's crying and [[MenDontCry he'll fiercely claim otherwise]].
353* BenchedHero: During TheStinger of episode 11, Seijuurou removes him from the Samezuka relay because his mind is too focused on beating Haru instead of working with his own team.
354* BigBrotherInstinct: Towards Gou. It's more obvious in ''Eternal Summer''; he's more [[AloofBigBrother aloof]] and troubled in Season 1, and avoids her nearly as much as he avoids the Iwatobi swimmers.
355** In the drama CD based in Season 1, he does mention that Seijuurou shouldn't call other people's little sisters by their first name without first asking permission. Naturally, Rin is referring to Gou. When Seijuurou asks permission to call Gou by her first name (jokingly), [[MySisterIsOffLimits Rin cuts him off with "NO."]]
356** Another drama CD scene reveals that he's paranoid over Gou going out every Sunday, thinking she has a boyfriend. When Nitori suggests that Seijuurou likes Gou, Rin immediately confronts the captain, who, says he went to see the movie ''A Rat's Life'' with "the little sister". Turns out, Seijuurou meant he went to the movie with his own sister, Isuzu.
357** In the anime itself he does occasionally demonstrate concern/affection for Gou, such as walking her back to the hotel she's staying in after it turns out both their schools were training on the same island. Still, Sousuke notices that they're not as close as Gou would like and offhandedly tells Rin to spend more time with her.
358** This becomes the major plot point during the final episode of ''Take Your Marks'', when Rin begins to grow suspicions that Gou is dating Momotarou.
359* BigEgoHiddenDepths: He may be a huge jerk, but it's later shown that there is more to him than he lets on.
360* BreakTheHaughty: Rin finally does beat Haru and declares that he'll never swim with him again, but it's obvious that this didn't actually solve any of Rin's issues. Then he sees how the new Iwatobi team swims together, and is clearly [[GreenEyedMonster jealous and bitter]] about the fact that Rei has taken "his place" (butterfly) in the relay and that they can win without him. Rin spends most of episode 9 breaking down as a result. In episode 11, his unhealthy obsession with beating Iwatobi gets him kicked off Samezuka's relay team.
361* CantCatchUp: While in Australia, Rin had trouble competing against the other swimmers and couldn't even communicate well because of the language barrier. Rin came to the conclusion that he had to do everything alone, and that the relay with his friends was distracting him from his goal. His frustrations eventually led him to quit shortly before the events of the anime, but swimming against Haru in the first episode reignites his drive to swim.
362* CharacterTics:
363** Snapping his goggles strap. The others recognize him after not seeing him for three years when he does something similar with the strap on the back of his baseball cap. This tic is also an homage to his father.
364** He rubs the back of his neck when he's embarrassed or annoyed.
365* CheerfulChild: Used to be, but his behavior changed when he went abroad to Australia and became discouraged when most of his classmates were able to swim faster than him. Haruka beating him when he returned to Japan during a school vacation was his breaking point. After episode 12, he TookALevelInCheerfulness again.
366* CheshireCatGrin: He tends to do this, to go with his shark-like teeth.
367* CurtainsMatchTheWindows: His eyes and hair are both red.
368* CuteLittleFangs: As a child. There are also moments during the current events of the anime where his [[ScaryTeeth sharklike teeth]] are less pronounced and look more like cute fangs.
369* DaddysGirl: Gender Inverted, he was very close to his father and his untimely death greatly affected him.
370* DeathGlare: He gives pretty nasty ones throughout the first season, but [[TookALevelInKindness not so much]] afterwards.
371* DisappearedDad: It turns out that he died in a typhoon during Rin and Gou's childhood.
372* DraggedIntoDrag: Rather than be forced to quit the team, he begrudgingly agrees to take part in the maid café. Mikoshiba, Nitori, and even his sister all think [[AttractiveBentGender he wears it well]].
373* EmbarrassingNickname: During elementary school, Haruka and Nagisa called him "Rin-Rin", and he didn't like it at all. When this comes up in ''High Speed!'', Rin explains that he was bullied and called "Rin-Rin" at his old school, and he's scared of being bullied again. However, when Nagisa calls him "Rin-Rin" near the end of episode 12, he doesn't seem to mind.
374* EvilRedhead: He's not actually ''evil'', but he is Haruka's rival and quite the {{Jerkass}} in the first season.
375* FairCop: During the second EndingTheme, he wears a policeman's uniform. Needless to say, he looks pretty good in it.
376* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Of the five high school friends, he switches between the sanguine and the choleric depending on the situation. He's also the sanguine of the Samezuka swim team.
377* GreenEyedMonster: Despite the fact that he initially ignored Nagisa and Makoto in favor of challenging Haruka, he is ''not'' happy when he realizes that "his" place in the relay team (the butterfly stroke) has been taken by Rei. When he watches the relay, he admires his old friends' trademark swimming styles... but snarls all the way through Rei's leg of the race, considering him unworthy of being in the same team as the other three. Rin seems genuinely taken aback at how much this upsets him, having thought that beating Haruka would solve everything. He gets over it by the end of the season. In the next season, he teases Rei when he sees that they're both swimming butterfly, and [[spoiler:spends quite a bit of time and effort teaching Rei to swim other strokes when he asks]].
378* HardWorkHardlyWorks:
379** Travels all the way to ''Australia'' to get the necessary training to beat Haruka. When he comes back to Japan to start high school and beats Haruka, he becomes upset — most likely because Haruka didn't seem to put in his utmost effort (or he just didn't even care that he lost, because he doesn't care about winning or losing). Later, it's revealed that he returned to Japan every so often, and once challenged Haruka when they both went to see their old club. He lost to him ''again'' and then [[SoreLoser told Haruka he was quitting swimming]]. It's also addressed in episode 4 that Rin has been training much harder and is in better physical condition than Haruka, which in Rin's opinion, makes his win pointless.
380** Played with at the end of episode 7. Haru trained to keep going on personal bests before the prefectural tournament, but Rin won in their seed and swore he wouldn't swim with him anymore. However, Haru hasn't been seriously training for years because of the above-mentioned incident that ended in Rin quitting. Haruka only had a month or so to train, ultimately making ''this'' victory hollow, too.
381** In episode 11, he reveals that he blames swimming in a relay for affecting his performance since no matter how hard he practiced, he couldn't get the results he wanted.
382* HiddenHeartOfGold: Later series and movies show that Rin has matured a lot since the first season. He's often aloof and tends to stare in disbelief or get annoyed with minor things or anyone being [[MySisterIsOffLimits interested in Gou]], and... that's about it.
383* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As it turns out, even in the first season he's really not that bad and is dealing with some significant personal issues that he eventually works through. He also shows genuine concern about Makoto facing the ocean in episode 5, and has a couple of PetTheDog moments with Nitori. After episode 12, the 'jerk' part is largely dropped.
384* KindheartedCatLover: Nitori observes Rin taking in a stray cat from the rain and feeding it mackerel in the old swim club building. Kindhearted... deep down.
385* LastNameBasis: He refers to Nitori exclusively by his family name for most of Season 1. They graduate to FirstNameBasis in episode 12; Rin calls Nitori the AffectionateNickname "Ai", and Nitori switches from "Matsuoka-senpai" to "Rin-senpai".
386* LightIsNotGood: The Samezuka uniform is mainly white, and he's the closest thing to an antagonist in Season 1. Later subverted and ultimately averted once his HeelRealization kicks in near S1's end, and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold he's become a]] [[HeelFaceTurn much better person]] by the time ''Eternal Summer'' rolls around.
387* MeaningfulName: "Rin" means "cold", "strict", or "severe" - a pretty good summary of his outward personality in Season 1.
388* MistakenForSuicidal: When he reveals to Nitori he intends to meet his father, Nitori thinks he is about to commit suicide. A very annoyed Rin explains he means he is going to visit his grave.
389* MyEyesAreUpHere: Momotaro briefly gets distracted by his pecs and he responds with an annoyed "hey". Later, Isuzu asks Gou about his impressive and legendary Man-Cleavage.
390* MySisterIsOffLimits: Comes up more than once in the drama [=CD=]s during interactions with his captain. In ''Eternal Summer'', he also has this attitude towards Momotarou, who is much more direct in his attempts at flirting with Gou, which often translates to Rin unceremoniously dragging him away. In ''Take Your Marks'', he nearly freaks out when he thinks Gou and Momotarou are dating.
391* PetTheDog:
392** Calls Nitori by his first name in episode 12, to Nitori's delight. There are other moments in ''Eternal Summer''.
393** Pretty constant through the second season, where he has the merest [[HiddenHeartOfGold facade]].
394* RedOniBlueOni: The red to [[TheRival Haruka's]] blue.
395* ReplacementGoldfish:
396** Rin feels like the "replaced" part of this trope when he watches Rei swim butterfly in Iwatobi's relay team.
397** Played with when ''Rin'' replaces ''Rei'' in the final relay.
398* TheRival: Pre-air material really wants to drive it home that he fills this role for Haruka--not only is it the introductory line of his profile, but in a chart mapping cast relations, Rin has [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-04-26/kyoto-animation-free-swim-team-anime-promo-streamed an isolated red box (being from a rival school and all) surrounding him with an arrow pointing only toward Haruka]] (and vice versa) with the words "RIVAL" written above it. Glaringly, he seemed to have no interest in anyone else, and they in kind have no arrow relating to him.
399* ScaryTeeth: As a teenager.
400* SecurityBlanket: The after-ending, next-episode character commentary reveals that Rin can't sleep without his pillow.
401* SelectiveObliviousness: Rin adamantly chooses to believe that [[spoiler:Sousuke can and should return to competitive swimming, despite a severe, movement-inhibiting injury that actual medical professionals have failed to fix for two years]].
402* SlasherSmile: Oh ''yes''.
403* SoreLoser: His inability to accept Haruka's victory back when they were kids is what destroyed their friendship in the first place. Over the course of Season 1, it gets much worse before it gets better.
404* SpiritedCompetitor: He thrives on challenge and competition.
405* StepfordSmiler: Episode 12 of ''Eternal Summer'' reveals that he was this during his time in Australia, putting on a cheerful face despite having trouble adjusting to a different country.
406* TeamMom: Surprisingly is this [[HoYay to Sousuke's]] TeamDad in ''Eternal Summer'' and especially the HotSpringsEpisode in ''Take Your Marks'', keeping Nitori and especially Momo in line.
407* TechnicianVersusPerformer: A mild example of a technician in contrast to Haruka's intuitive performer. He consistently weight trains in order to supplement his swimming skills (and even chastises Haruka about not focusing enough on gaining a stronger build). He also frequently reads books about improving swimming techniques. In Season 2 he's more like the performer to Sousuke's very strict technician, in that he takes enjoyment in swimming with and helping his friends, rather than believing that the only meaningful thing to do with that time and effort is self-train.
408* TookALevelInJerkass: This occurred within the story after coming back overseas, the start of the series. After meeting his team mates for the first time in years, he insults Haruka for still hanging out with Makoto and Nagisa, the latter two he doesn't even acknowledge. After an unsuccessful attempt to race Haruka, he takes the trophy they had worked so hard for as children and tosses it aside, saying he doesn't need it anymore. It is hinted in his talk with Rei and the end card in episode 11 that disappointment after disappointment of his swimming combined with being alone in a foreign country was enough to make the once idealistic, cheerful child lean into FaceHeelTurn territory.
409* TookALevelInKindness: After the climax of episode 12. He still shows traces of grumpiness, but he's much friendlier and more open with his emotions. Shown fully in later seasons; while his general personality is the same and he can still lose his patience, he is much more openly friendly and nice, smiles ''far'' more than his first-season self did, actually laughs in some scenes, and is openly supportive towards his friends, Nitori and Rei especially when they need it. He's only ever aloof and hostile towards Momotarou, and that's ''far'' less than in Season 1, being mostly played for laughs when Momotarou is being particularly absurd.
410* TroubledButCute: His attractiveness is commented on in-universe, and most of the anime he can't hide his frustration about his swimming ability.
411* {{Tsundere}}:
412** Even after episode 12, his sister and Nagisa both outright say he needs to be more honest with his feelings. Nitori even calls him one once.
413** More specifically, a platonic example towards the Iwatobi team. Sousuke points out when Rin complains about them calling him for a favor that he might complain, but he'll do it anyway.
414* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Rin began to swim competitively because he wanted to live out his father's missed-out dream as an Olympic swimmer. His father decided to put off his swimming career so he would be able to support his family and properly raise his son and daughter, but he died when his fishing boat was caught in a typhoon. Rin feels like he has to be a great swimmer and make up for the opportunities his father lost.
415* UsedToBeASweetKid: Prior to his three years overseas.
416* VitriolicBestBuds: With Haruka (as of ''Eternal Summer'', evident in episode 12) and Sousuke.
417* WeUsedToBeFriends: Was once good friends with Haruka, Makoto, and Nagisa before going overseas and coming back completely changed. He goes back to being their friend in episode 12.
418[[/folder]]
419
420[[folder:Gou Matsuoka]]
421
422!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AkenoWatanabe (Japanese), Creator/JamieMarchi (English), Alejandra Delint (Latin American Spanish)
423
424[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gou_2.jpg]]
425 [[caption-width-right:200: '''Elementary school:''' Sano Elementary School\
426'''High school:''' Iwatobi High School]]
427
428Rin's younger sister who serves as the Iwatobi Swim Club's manager.
429----
430* AudienceSurrogate: Her immediate reaction to Haruka being shirtless is to avert her eyes and insist that good girls don't stare at half-naked guys, but within seconds she's gushing with starry-eyes over his muscles, and has reacted similarly to all other shirtless swimming guys she's seen since. Considering that the main point of the show is FemaleGaze-y half-naked boys, clearly she's acting as the audience here.
431* BigBrotherWorship: It's subtle, but she highly looks up to Rin and frequently displays concern for his well-being. In addition, he has her ideal body type in men.
432* CordonBleughChef: In episode 4 of ''Eternal Summer'', she makes a very appetizing-looking meal for the team...but it turns out to be stuffed full of chocolate, strawberry and banana-flavored protein powders. Nagisa is the only one who likes it.
433* CovertPervert: A lot of scenes involve her [[FemaleGaze staring at the boys.]]
434* CurtainsMatchTheWindows: Just like her brother.
435* CuteSportsClubManager: The manager of the Swim Club; a cute girl among muscular but lean young men.
436* DisappearedDad: See Rin's note below.
437* DoNotCallMePaul: Gou dislikes being called by her first name, as it sounds very masculine. Well, until ''Eternal Summer'', at least...
438* DudeMagnet: Or more accurately the [[SubvertedTrope Mikoshiba Magnet]]. Being the main cast's TokenFemale, you would expect her to be more or less this but, since most of the male characters are mostly interested in each other, she's not quite the center of attention. Still, both Mikoshiba brothers find her ''very'' attractive and will readily attempt to woo her whenever they come across her. Also, she spurs the BigBrotherInstinct not only from her actual brother but also from all the other members of the cast, especially Sousuke.
439* EatingTheEyeCandy: Being the swimming club manager, this happens quite often. And she doesn't necessarily react only in [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless Scenes]]. Just seeing well defined muscles makes her eyes to go into full BishieSparkle mode. See AudienceSurrogate above and {{Fetish}} and {{Otaku}} below.
440* EmbarrassingFirstName: Gou hates her first name because [[GenderBlenderName it's a boys name]]. In the first season, she often corrects anyone who calls her "Gou."
441* {{Fetish}}: Has a fetish for muscles.
442* FieryRedhead: Outspoken and tends to be passionate about things, particularly muscles.
443* IncestSubtext: Gou's ideal body type in men is Rin's. In episode 1 of ''Eternal Summer'', she's also very enthusiastic about Rin stripping down and even prepares her camera for a shot as she suggests he does.
444* InsistentTerminology: She prefers to be called Kou, which is a more feminine pronunciation of her name, but no one does. She drops the insistence by episode 4, and in ''Eternal Summer'' even refers to herself as Gou.
445* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: Gou is generally a masculine name, yes, but she's specifically named for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oeyo a female historical figure]].
446* {{Otaku}}: Gou is fascinated with muscles, so much that she points out every specific muscle at every opportunity and tries to get the swim club to show off their muscles at any chance she gets. She also owns a collection of muscle-related photobooks.
447* SecretSecretKeeper: Gou knows Ms. Amakata used to be a gravure model after finding one of her old magazines in the club room at the end of Season 1. However, it's not known is Ms. Amakata is aware of this, and Gou pretty much tries to pretend it never happened to avoid awkwardness.
448* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only notable female character from the same age group as the protagonists in the first two seasons.
449* SuperDrowningSkills: It was discovered in one conversation that Gou can't swim.
450* TeamDad: Despite being female and their manager, she is much more into getting results from the team, like improving their time and following a strict regime, and wants the team to be more ambitious.
451* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The girly girl to Isuzu's tomboy.
452* TranquilFury: There's one occasion where Nagisa calls her "Gou" in the middle of a discussion on club business where she sharply cuts him off with ''"It's Kou"'', accompanied by a plastic smile and awkward silence for a couple seconds before she simply resumes the discussion.
453* TsurimeEyes: In contrast to Miho's Tareme.
454* YaoiFangirl: When Gou sees Rei talking privately with the captain of the track team, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint she immediately thinks Rei is in love with him.]]
455[[/folder]]
456
457[[folder:Seijuurou Mikoshiba]]
458
459!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenjiroTsuda (Japanese), Creator/RobertMcCollum (English), Fabián Rétiz (Latin American Spanish)
460
461[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sei.jpg]]
462[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Backstroke\
463'''High school:''' Samezuka Academy\
464'''University:''' Hidaka University]]
465
466The eldest of the Mikoshiba siblings and the original Samezuka swim team captain. He graduates in the beginning of ''Eteneral Summer'' and currently attends Hidaka University while occassionally visiting his brother and old teammates. He is Rin and Haruka's superior during high school and college respectively as well as Gou's eager suitor in the first season.
467
468----
469* AloofBigBrother: Averted. Seijuurou is shown to be honourable and ecouraging to his younger siblings, though he [[SinkOrSwimMentor doesn't go easy on them]].
470* BoisterousBruiser: Episode 8 as well as the final segment in ''Take Your Marks'' reveal he makes good on his boisterous nature by being a ''very'' competent swimmer, setting a new tournament record in his prelim in the former.
471* TheBigGuy: In the first season, he's indeed the most powerful swimmer of the team and is also the tallest character within the entire cast.
472* CommutingOnABus: In the second season. He graduates in the first episode, so he's obviously absent from the school and training scenes. However, he still shows up from time to time to check on his old teammates and is shown to be the captain of the Hidaka University swim team in season 3.
473* TheCaptain: The initial captain of both the Samezuka and Hidaka University swim teams. Referred as such by Rin and Gou especially ("Mikoshiba-buchou").
474* DoggedNiceGuy: He has a crush on Gou and even tries to ask her out a couple of times. She doesn't seem interested, though.
475* GentleGiant: When off-duty, he's actually very kind and cheerful.
476* HopelessSuitor: Since he's written out at the beginning of season 2 and shown to live in Tokyo during season 3, there's not much hope for him to actually have anything going on with Gou.
477* {{Hunk}}: Before Sousuke's introduction, he was the sole example of this in the series. He's tall and muscular, with a commanding voice and very respected as a leader by his cohorts, despite being unexpectedly approachable when off-duty.
478* LargeAndInCharge: The tallest and most muscular of the Samezuka team and also their leader in season 1, regains his role as such for the Hidaka University swim team in season 3.
479* LoveAtFirstSight: It is implied that he falls in love with Gou when she came to look for Rin before he joined the swim team.
480* PassingTheTorch: He graduates at the beginning of ''Eternal Summer'' and passes the title of team captain to Rin.
481** He also passes the role of Gou's HopelessSuitor to his younger brother (Momo).
482* SugarAndIcePersonality: He's extremely strict and serious when it comes to his team, but when interacting with Gou or the original Swim Club members he's surprisingly dorky.
483* SweetTooth: Nitori mentions all the sweets he eats at the squid festival.
484[[/folder]]
485
486[[folder:Aiichirou Nitori]]
487
488!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KoukiMiyata (Japanese), Creator/JoshGrelle (English), Héctor Ireta del Alba (Latin American Spanish)
489
490[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nitori1.jpg]]
491[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Breaststroke\
492'''High school:''' Samezuka Academy\
493'''University:''' Shimogami University]]
494
495
496Rin's initial roommate at Samezuka Academy, who swam in the same swimming competition as Rin and his circle of friends from Iwatobi elementary school. Ai greatly looks up to him Rin and never stopped believing in him, which ultimately helps stregnthen their originally strained friendship. [[spoiler: Their bond eventually allows Ai become Rin's sucessor as the team's captain.]]
497----
498* AffectionateNickname: "Ai". Rin calls him this in episode 12 (progressing to FirstNameBasis), and continues to do so in Eternal Summer, with the rest of the Samezuka team slowly following suit.
499** Nagisa calls him "Ai-chan" in Eternal Summer, about which he's less pleased because he feels that Nagisa is being too forward.
500* AmbiguouslyBi: Has shown some signs of this.
501* AnimalMotifs: Duck.
502* CovertPervert: The second [=FrFr!=] shows that he has a pink porn magazine ([[AmbiguouslyGay which in Japan, these books are aimed toward women and usually feature gay porn]]) lying around his books.
503* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud: Tends to say parts of what he's writing in his diary out loud with Rin nearby. Given that most of what Nitori writes is about Rin, he's left to stammering denials.
504* DiggingYourselfDeeper: When Rin is annoyed about the joint practice with Iwatobi, Nitori says that the Iwatobi boys all have girly names. Rin, who just ''happens'' to also have a girly name, is not pleased.
505** Does it again in Episode 4, when praising Haruka and saying that success "all comes down to talent". He gets a particularly vicious DeathGlare from Rin for that.
506* DoggedNiceGuy: ''Extremely'' dogged towards Rin, whom he may has a thing for, in a "Please, notice me Senpai!" kind of way.
507* {{Expy}}: Looks very similar to Masato from ''VisualNovel/UtaNoPrinceSama'': both have the same hairstyle and have beauty marks under their right eyes.
508* {{Foil}}: To Nagisa, especially when the two become [[TheRival rivals]] in the second season. Both are the [[TheCutie cute, youthful]] and [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide slightly feminine]] members of their teams, even if later members are younger than they are, and both form a fixation and good friendship with members of their teams, Rei for Nagisa (which lead to him joining the team), and Rin for Aiichirou (who started out as a MoralityPet for Rin). Aiichirou also begins to specialize in two strokes like Rin, the second being the breaststroke, which he and Nagisa are seen competing against each other under in the relay in season 2's premiere. However, their personalities are very different, which is made clear during the locker room scene together in episode 6 of ''Eternal Summer''. While Nagisa is very outgoing, enthusiastic and childlike, Aiichirou is timid, uneasy and more disciplined. Despite this, the relay shows that Nagisa's stroke is faster and more refined than Aiichirou's, and Nagisa beats him in their leg of the relay.
509* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The phlegmatic of the Samzuka swim team.
510* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Seems to believe this. He says at one point that success all comes down to talent because he doesn't seem to be improving. This attitude does ''not'' go over well with Rin. He changes his tune in Eternal Summer and is shown training himself at night to improve his times.
511%%* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide:
512* LastNameBasis: Rin, Seijuurou, as well as most of the Iwatobi team refer to him as Nitori and he refers to Rin as "Matsuoka-senpai". They both graduate to FirstNameBasis in episode 12, and Nitori calls Rin "Rin-senpai" from that point onward.
513* StalkerWithoutACrush: Rin accuses Nitori of stalking him at one point in Season 1, and Nitori doesn't even deny it. His behavior also occasionally gives the impression of [[StalkerWithACrush stronger feelings]].
514[[/folder]]
515
516[[folder:Miho Amakata]]
517
518!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SatsukiYukino (Japanese), Creator/CaitlinGlass (English), Creator/BetzabeJara (Latin American Spanish)
519
520[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miho1.jpg]]
521
522A former swimsuit model who decicded to become a classical literature teacher. She is Haruka and Makoto's homeroom teacher, and they, along with Nagisa later convince her to become the Swim Club Supervisor.
523----
524* BattleAura: Parodied. Gets one when she's particularly miffed.
525* TheDitz: She's often a little spacey, and her [[IceCreamKoan literary references]] rarely make any sense.
526* IceCreamKoan: Being a literature teacher, she frequently dispenses these.
527* MsFanservice: InUniverse, she used to be a swimsuit model. She treats this as a DarkAndTroubledPast and (much like [[Manga/KOn Sawa-Chan]]), reminding her of those days [[BerserkButton is a bad idea]].
528* MysteriousPast: She was a swimsuit model named "Marin-chan" at one point and quite dismissive [[OldShame whenever its mentioned.]]
529* OffscreenTeleportation: Shows up behind Nagisa whenever he mentions her wearing a swimsuit.
530* OlderThanTheyLook: If you saw her standing next to her students while they were all wearing civilian clothes, you would think she was another teenager. Justified, since the first episode we learn that she had recently graduated college, so she probably isn't ''that'' much older than them.
531* ParasolOfPrettiness: Is seen using one when the weather is particularly hot. Being a former swimsuit model, she's of course quite the beauty.
532* PornNames: She went by the name "Marin Nishikujo" during her swimsuit model days.
533* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: For example, she sees no problem with the boys sneaking into abandoned buildings, since you're ''supposed'' to adventurous and a little reckless at that age.
534* SenseiChan: Her students even call her "Ama-chan-sensei".
535* TaremeEyes: In contrast to Gou's Tsurime.
536* TokenAdult: Along with coach Sasabe.
537* TranquilFury: Displays this when Nagisa suggests that they get more members for the swim club by having her wear a swimsuit. She even threatens to quit supervising.
538* WomenDrivers: Her driving isn't exactly the greatest. While ''Take Your Marks'' justified it as she saw just how skilled Rin could be on the road, the fifth episode of ''Dive to the Future'' begins with Romio comparing her driving to a rollercoaster. The ride has Gou and Sasabe feeling nervous and uncomfortable with her bumpy driving and ends with both Rei and Shizuru becoming carsick.
539[[/folder]]
540
541[[folder:Goro Sasabe]]
542
543!!!'''Voiced by:''' Hiroshi Yanaka (Japanese), Creator/ChristopherSabat (English), Creator/EnriqueCervantes (Latin American Spanish)
544
545[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goro1.jpg]]
546
547The Iwatobi Swim Club's head coach up until the swimming pool closed down. He accepts to become the team's new coach upon seeing their determination and enthusiasm.
548----
549* DrillSergeantNasty: He's known for being a very tough and demanding coach.
550* FatherNeptune: He's a decent sailor due to his grandfather being a former fisherman who taught him to sail. He sells his boat in order to rebuild the club in that regard.
551* InSeriesNickname: "The Demon", in regard to his reputation of severity as a coach.
552* OlderThanTheyLook: ''Tries'' to look younger than he is with his eccentric hair but he's probably in his early 30's.
553* PermaStubble: In contrast to the main cast who sports a PermaShave, he's constantly shown with a short goatee.
554* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: A respected figure in the pro-swimming milieu who is also very helpful and supportive of his charges, if very demanding.
555* RetiredBadass: He once was the had coach of the Iwatobi Swimming Club, he's now a pizza delivery guy.
556* SatelliteCharacter: A background character through and through who has little significance outside of his relationship to the main cast.
557* TokenAdult: Along with Amakata-sensei.
558* VagueAge: It's not known how old he is but given the timeline, he's probably in his late 20's/early 30's.
559* YouGotGuts: What he says to all the Iwatobi team-to-be and it's what convinces him to resume coaching.
560[[/folder]]
561
562!!Introduced in ''Free! - Eternal Summer'' (Season 2)
563
564
565[[folder:Sousuke Yamazaki]]
566
567!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshimasaHosoya, Creator/AoiYuuki (young) (Japanese), Creator/IanSinclair, Ryan Reynolds (young) (English)
568
569[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sousuke1.jpg]]
570 [[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Butterfly stroke\
571'''Elementary school:''' Sano Elementary School\
572'''Middle school:''' Sano Junior School\
573'''High school:''' Samezuka Academy, Tokitsu High School]]
574
575An old close friend of Rin's who transfered to Samezuka Academy in the second season.
576
577----
578* AnimalMotifs: Whale Shark.
579* BigBrotherInstinct: He's very protective of Rin, even though they are more or less the same age.
580** His relationship with Gou has shades of this as well, especially when he tells Rin to spend more time with her and [[YouMustBeCold gives her his jacket]] after Nitori accidentally sprays her with a water gun in episode 14.
581** He even shows shades of this to Ikuya, stepping in to defend him from Kaede alongside Natsuya.
582* TheBigGuy: He's the best swimmer in Rin's team and the most physically imposing, being impressively muscular and the only main character taller than Makoto.
583* BrokenAce: He's an incredibly talented, powerful swimmer who is nationally-ranked for Butterfly. He's also intimidating, has limited social skills with everyone but Rin, and [[spoiler:has a CareerEndingInjury to his shoulder]].
584* CareerEndingInjury: [[spoiler:There is major {{Foreshadowing}} throughout the season in the way he uses his left shoulder, and in episode 8, Kisumi reveals that Sousuke has a serious injury to his ''right'' shoulder. In episode 10, Sousuke reveals to Rin that he damaged it in his first year of high school due to pushing himself too hard with increasingly intense training. And because he never stopped training to address the problem, the joint has broken down to the point that he can no longer swim competitively.]]
585* CharacterDevelopment: He is initially very [[JerkassToOne hostile towards Haru]], warning him not to hurt Rin on his watch. In the OVA, the two are forced to worked together as a team in a survival game, where Haru comes to Sousuke's rescue and later, Sousuke [[TakingTheBullet sacrifices himself]] to protect him from Rin. By the end they start warming up to each other. [[spoiler:By ''The Final Stroke Part 1'', the two are on friendly terms and after the nasty fight Haru and Rin have at the end of the movie, in ''Part 2'', Sousuke comforts Haru and tells him not to worry about Rin, [[VitriolicBestBuds having fought him multiple times himself]], he tells Haru that Rin will be fine and advices him [[PetTheDog not to overtrain himself like he did]]. In the end of the movie, Sousuke volunteers to be part of Haru's relay team, alongside Rin and Ikuya and the four share a [[TearsOfJoy tearful]] GroupHug solidifying their status as friends. Not only that, Sousuke also tells Kinjou that he will understand Haru once he swims with him, much like how [[MeaningfulEcho Makoto had said to Hiyori earlier]]]].
586* CharacterTics: Twisting his shoulder [[spoiler:because of his GameBreakingInjury.]]
587* ChildhoodFriends: With Rin. They've kept in touch since Rin left for Australia, but Sousuke clearly misses him and is angry with Haru for not working hard because he takes it as an insult toward Rin's efforts to improve his swimming.
588* DeadpanSnarker: In ''Starting Days'', he says that the letter from Rin must be for Haru because it's written as though Rin doesn't expect to get a response, and Sousuke always writes back.
589* DeathGlare: He's got a vicious one, generally reserved for Haruka.
590* DefrostingIceKing: A non-romantic example as he develops from a closed-off and intimidating loner to a TeamDad for the Samezuka relay team. Eventually, he even warms up to the Iwatobi team, most obviously in ES 14.
591* DentedIron: [[spoiler:Overtraining led to a shoulder injury. Numbing the pain and ''continuing'' to train intensely caused permanent damage to the joint and will prevent him from ever swimming professionally.]]
592* {{Determinator}}: Deconstructed. [[spoiler:Training and working himself past his limits despite a serious joint injury exacerbates it to the point that he will never swim competitively again]].
593* {{Foil}}: To Makoto. They both fill the roles of TheBigGuy and childhood friend of the team's freestyle swimmer. But where Makoto is timid and universally friendly, Sousuke is blunt and intimidating. Conflict is an alien concept to Makoto and Haruka, but Sousuke and Rin "fight all the time" ''because'' of their intense personalities and how much they care about each other. Makoto only competes against Haru once, and decides not to do it anymore because their friendship isn't about challenging each other; Sousuke and Rin's friendship thrives on competition, but Sousuke [[spoiler:''has'' to stop because he's physically broken]].
594* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:For much of the season, he's seen stretching and rolling his left shoulder but never his right. He also never competes in individual events, despite the fact that he disliked the relay when he was younger and is nationally-ranked for butterfly. It turns out that he has a CareerEndingInjury to his right shoulder and all he wants is to swim the relay with Rin for as long as he can; butterfly puts immense strain on the shoulders, so he limits the amount of time he spends swimming it at top speed]].
595* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The melancholic of the Samzuka swim team.
596* TheGadfly: Despite his stoic demeanor, he’s not above taking a few shots at Rin and the others every once in a while.
597* GameBreakingInjury: [[spoiler:Sousuke is a national-top-ten ranked swimmer who leaves a prestigious high school legendary for its swim team to join Rin's team at Samezuka. His CareerEndingInjury acting up just as he passes Rei is the only reason he doesn't give Rin a major advantage going into the freestyle leg of their relay at regionals.]]
598* GreenEyedMonster: Even though he never says it outright, Sousuke's brief and far-between interactions with Haru clearly display his intense jealousy of Haru's importance in Rin's life, a position that Sousuke wants for himself. In ''Starting Days'', when he gives Haru the letter from Rin, he's obviously jealous of the way Rin talks about Haru.
599* HesBack: [[spoiler:He eventually undergoes surgery to get past his CareerEndingInjury and trains with Makoto, due to their similar heights and builds, in order to get back in shape. In ''The Final Stroke Part 2'', he makes a triumphant return in the Japan tournament and later teams up with Haru, Rin and Ikuya in the final relay race of the World Tournament, which they win]].
600* HugeGuyTinyGirl: Non-romantic between him and Gou.
601* {{Hunk}}: Unlike [[{{Bishonen}} the other characters]], he fits squarely into this trope thanks to his height and build.
602* IneffectualLoner: The most aloof and solitary of the main cast, and also the one [[spoiler:hinted to have lost everything in the end]]. It's also shown that being a loner since Rin left for Australia may have resulted in competitive success, but it also [[spoiler:drove him to a CareerEndingInjury]].
603* JerkassToOne: While he will mostly avoid contact with Haru, whenever they interact Sousuke is usually hostile or downright rude to underline just how much he ''really'' doesn't like Haru and he will not hesitate in threatening him directly if he feels Haru is being disrespectful or obstructive to Rin's work. When he interacts with other characters, he's aloof but polite, even helpful to his fellow teammates and seems to have a soft spot for Gou. [[spoiler:He gradually does warm up to him though, after working as teammates in the survival game and by ''The Final Stroke'', they are friends.]]
604* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a bit gruff and blunt, and he is willing to threaten and intimidate Haru, but he does so for Rin's sake, and the way he interacts with Rin and Nitori suggests he's not all bad.
605* LastNameBasis: He and Haruka refer to each other by last name due to their less than friendly relationship. [[spoiler: However, as of episode 14, they graduate to FirstNameBasis after spending a whole day being on the same team and defending each other.]]
606* ManHug: Him and Rin have their own version of this which includes faking to punch each other.
607* NewTransferStudent: He transfers into Rin's class at Samezuka at the end of Eternal Summer's first episode.
608* NoSenseOfDirection: In the ''Eternal Summer'' OVA, Rin reveals Sousuke is pretty bad with directions. Cut to Sousuke lost ''in his own school'' and wondering where the hell he is. This is also how he finds out about Ikuya. He stumbled upon him while looking for Rin and the others.
609* NotSoDifferentRemark: As Makoto points out, he and Haruka are actually pretty similar in terms of being quiet and stoical.
610* PerpetualFrowner: You can count on one hand the times Sousuke actually cracks a smile, especially when he's not alone with Rin.
611* ShowerOfAngst: [[spoiler:At the end of episode 9, after he aggravates his shoulder injury.]]
612* SourOutsideSadInside: He's unfriendly (even threatening in Haru's case) toward everyone except Rin and eventually the rest of the Samezuka relay team. [[spoiler:Turns out he has a CareerEndingInjury that has eliminated any chance he once had to swim professionally, and he can only bring himself to put on a nice face for Rin]].
613* TallDarkAndHandsome: Just look at the picture! He's the tallest in the cast (after Seijuurou, at least) and very attractive, though not particularly charming.
614* TaremeEyes: Probably to soften his hard features.
615* TeamDad: Almost everything about his behaviors reflect this in him. From his overprotectiveness of Rin (especially when confronting Haru in ES episode 2) to the way he acts around the other Samezuka swim team members. There are even long posts on Tumblr about how he wears "dad outfits." This is especially prominent in ''Take Your Marks'', when he helps [[TeamMom Rin]] keep Nitori and especially Momo in line.
616* ToughLove: Toward Nitori on two occasions.
617** He goes out at night and finds Nitori sitting on the stairs, upset about his lackluster times. Sousuke grouches at him for self-pity, but follows it up with the advice that Nitori has potential and shouldn't crush it before he even tries.
618** When he catches Nitori swimming at night, Sousuke walks up to the side of the pool and informs Nitori that fatigue is ruining his form. When Nitori tries to argue, Sousuke says he'll coach for the rest of Nitori's practice, but only ''after'' he takes a break. [[spoiler:All the more touching with TheReveal that Sousuke caused permanent damage to himself by overtraining, and he's trying to stop Nitori from making the same mistakes]].
619* TrainingFromHell: Deconstructed. After parting ways with Rin in middle school, he went off to rigorously train himself so that one day he would compete with him. He ''did'' become a nationally-ranked Butterfly swimmer, [[spoiler:but he also damaged his right shoulder to the point that he'll never be able to swim professionally.]]
620* TranquilFury: He scares the living hell out of Nitori after the latter unintentionally sprays Gou with his water gun.
621* TroubledButCute: Invoked through Gou's reaction to his usually aloof and dismissive attitude.
622* VitriolicBestBuds: According to Rin, they "fight all the time", and their secret handshake involves fake punching each other. Sousuke also makes fun of Rin for being a {{Tsundere}} ("You complain, but you're going to do it for them, right?"), and Rin kicks him on a semi-regular basis.
623* WatchingTheSunset: [[spoiler:During the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, Sousuke is the only one whose sequence hints a BittersweetEnding. He's only seen watching the sunset all alone on a deserted quay, hinting that his swimming days are probably over, despite Rin's encouragements, and that he may have to go his own way and start a new life, on his own.]]
624* WhatTheHellHero: In ''Starting Days'', he gets ''pissed'' and has to be physically restrained when he swims free against Haruka in the first tournament and beats him easily, [[WhatTheHellHero because he thinks Haru is mocking him and not taking the competition seriously]].
625* YouMustBeCold: In Episode 14, he gives his jacket to Gou after Nitori accidentally sprays her with a water gun.
626[[/folder]]
627
628[[folder:Momotarou Mikoshiba]]
629
630!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenichiSuzumura (Japanese), Creator/JerryJewell (English)
631
632[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/momo1_0.jpg]]
633[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Backstroke\
634'''High school:''' Samezuka Academy]]
635
636Seijuurou's younger brother who joins the Samezuka swim team in the second season. He is the "fearsome new face" his brother referred to.
637
638----
639* AlliterativeName: '''[=MoMo=]'''tarou '''Mi'''koshiba
640* AmbiguouslyBi: Momo loves cute girls, but [[DistractedByTheSexy gets distracted by Rin's pectoral cleavage]] and is ''very'' enthusiastic about befriending Nitori.
641* AnimalMotifs: Sea otter. It even applies InUniverse, since he's been nicknamed "the Sea of Japan's Sea Otter".
642* TheBabyOfTheBunch: He's the youngest of the four main Samezuka swimmers as well as the youngest of his siblings, and is easily the most hyper and excitable, yet most immature of both.
643* BeetleManiac: One of his hobbies is catching stag beetles, and his love for them can exceed Haru's love for mackerel. In Episode 11 he even asks Rin to give Gou a stag beetle he caught for her himself. In ''Take Your Marks'', he gives Nagisa and Rei food for stag beetles and gives Gou a special value sized pack.
644* BewareTheSillyOnes: Despite his boisterous nature, he is shown to be an incredibly gifted swimmer.
645* BrilliantButLazy: Downplayed. At the start of Season 2, he refuses to join the swim club, despite being a talented swimmer and Seijuurou's younger brother. When put to the test though, he proves himself to be ''very'' skilled.
646* CasanovaWannabe: Probably, since during his first appearance he mentions wanting to see cute girls which was the only way Rin could convince him to come to the Splash Fest. And since he does things like [[https://31.media.tumblr.com/d452bb2b3c8a1f44017c5b0f93b40609/tumblr_inline_n8grhsONbp1rsn40w.png this]], he probably doesn't get many admirers.
647* CrushBlush: Whenever he's around Gou but, unlike most examples, he's more likely to proposition Gou, especially to her brother's face, than acting awkward and/or aloof.
648* FieryRedhead: He's constantly energetic and doesn't ever seem to calm down.
649* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The choleric of the Samzuka swim team.
650* InSeriesNickname: His teammates call him "Momo" and he encourages Gou to call him just that.
651* {{Keet}}: While his physical appearance isn't as cute, he's probably even ''more'' energetic than Nagisa, albeit in a more HotBlooded way.
652* LoveAtFirstSight: Like his brother, with Gou.
653* RealMenWearPink: A big percentage of his casual wardrobe seems to include bright pink shirts.
654* TheRival: Gains his own rivalry with Aoba Usami, starting with ''Take Your Marks''.
655* RunningGag:
656** Gou has difficulty remembering his name.
657** Whenever he talks to Gou, he has a habit of rattling off random facts about himself, like his hobbies and favourite foods, which is a classical way of presenting oneself as a potential suitor in Japanese culture.
658* ShoutOut: He's named after the titular character of the Japanese folktale ''Literature/{{Momotaro}}''.
659* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: In terms of his competitiveness and interest in Gou, He acts like a younger version of his brother Seijuurou, and was introduced after Seijuurou's graduation from Samezuka. He also replaces him as Gou's suitor in the show.
660[[/folder]]
661
662[[folder:Kisumi Shigino]]
663
664!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ChihiroSuzuki, Creator/RinaSato (young) (Japanese), Creator/EricVale, Creator/TiaBallard (young) (English)
665
666[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kisumi1.jpg]]
667 [[caption-width-right:200: '''Elementary school:''' Sano Elementary School\
668'''Middle school:''' Iwatobi Junior High School\
669'''High school:''' Unnamed high school\
670'''University:''' Hidaka University]]
671
672Kisumi is an old middle school friend of Haru and Makoto, and he also went to the same elementary school as Rin and Sousuke. He reunites with them in ''Eternal Summer'' when Makoto begins teaching his little brother Hayato how to swim. He has more focus in ''Starting Days'', where he is shown to be an avid basketball player.
673----
674* AnimalMotifs: Averted. Due to being a non-swimmer, he is represented by an anchor in merchindise instead.
675* AscendedExtra: From a minor supporting character to a major supporting character in ''High Speed! Free! Starting Days'' to a main cast member in ''Dive to the Future''.
676* TheFriendNobodyLikes: To a small degree, he's a little intrusive. It's not that Haru and the others don't enjoy his company -- really, they do, but Asahi, Ikuya, Sousuke and especially Haru sometimes get annoyed by his teasing and nosiness, and it seems like only Makoto and Rin are the only ones who don't mind him being around. In ''Take Your Marks'', Haruka threatens to leave and nearly follows up on his words when he finds out that the realty Sasabe recommended to him is run by Kisumi's uncle.
677* TheGadfly: Kisumi enjoys teasing Haru and (especially) Asahi a lot just to see their reactions. In ''Starting Days'', Kisumi even jokingly offers Asahi to sit on his lap when Ikuya sits in his spot to eat lunch, only to laugh when Asahi vehemently rejects the idea.
678* HypocriticalHumor: As noted under TheGadfly entry, he loves teasing others, until [[TheNicknamer Nagisa]] casually calls him "Kissme" in front of everyone. He doesn't make a big deal about it but he does express annoyance over it.
679* InnocentInnuendo: His name is one of them, sounding like the English "kiss me".
680* InnocentlyInsensitive: One of the first things he says to Haru when they meet up again is how he remembers Haru being sad about Rin leaving for Australia.
681* {{Keet}}: Like Asahi, he's not as small as your average keet, but when it comes to cheerfulness and enthusiasm, he's up there with Nagisa.
682* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Kisumi is part of Haru's social circle in middle school and when he goes to college, but he usually doesn't hang out with them due to being in different clubs. For example, he seemed largely unaware about the bad blood between Haru and Ikuya.
683* NiceGuy: Playful teasing aside, Kisumi is undeniably friendly to everyone he comes across, and official character descriptions mention that he gets along with everybody. He's also able to deflect scathing remarks from Haruka and Asahi into something nice (i.e. complimenting Asahi for his patience and kindness when explaining swimming, when Asahi is frustrated at him butting into his and Haruka's conversation).
684* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: He has the habit of wrapping his arm around people's shoulders and clinging to them. Haru takes it in stride.
685* RoseHairedSweetie: A RareMaleExample. His hair is a light peach color, fitting his cheerful, caring, and affable personality.
686* ShooOutTheClowns: Kisumi is often missing from most of the swim team's drama due to being busy with his basketball club and hanging out with other friends. He does, however, try to cheer up Hiyori during the regionals.
687[[/folder]]
688
689[[folder:Hayato Shigino]]
690
691->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AyumiFujimura (Japanese), Creator/AlexisTipton (English)
692
693[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hayati1.jpg]]
694
695Kisumi's younger brother and one of new members of the Iwatobi Swimming Club Returns natatorium.
696----
697* RoseHairedSweetie: Another RareMaleExample, like his brother, but his has more of a warmer salmon color.
698[[/folder]]
699
700!!Introduced in ''Anime/HighSpeedFreeStartingDays''
701[[folder:Asahi Shiina]]
702
703!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ToshiyukiToyonaga (Japanese), Christopher Llewyn Ramirez (English)
704
705[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asahi1.jpg]]
706[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Butterfly stroke\
707'''Middle school:''' Iwatobi Junior High School\
708'''High school:''' Kazami High School\
709'''University:''' Hidaka University]]
710
711A boy with a bright personality and a luck-pusher. Asahi is one of Haruka's classmates in middle school, and from the moment he sees him wants to recruit Haruka into the swim club. His best swim style is the butterfly, but he can swim all other styles well, something he takes extreme pride in. In ''Dive to the Future'', he and Kisumi join Makoto and Haru at Tokyo University, becoming part of the main cast.
712----
713* TheAce: It is suggested that he was this prior to meeting Haruka. He even became the captain of his high school's swim team.
714* AnimalMotifs: Officially, the ribbon seal, though he originally went by the alias of "The Marlin of Genkainara", which are related to swordfish. He's also been teased by Ikuya and Kisumi on how he acts like a monkey, much to his chargin. His love of banana milkshakes certainly doesn't help his case.
715* BookDumb: While it's hinted that he does well in school, the boy does ''not'' know how libraries work and that's not a good sign at all.
716* ButtMonkey: Often the group's main source of humor, usually at his expense. This fittingly includes the aforementioned monkey comparisons from his friends.
717* CompetitionFreak: In ''Starting Days'', Asahi often challenged Haru a lot to swimming.
718* {{Determinator}}: If he fails at something, no matter how frustrated he becomes, his only answer is to work harder and try again next time.
719* FieryRedhead: Asahi is colored with red hair, and he's one of the most animated, energetic characters in Haru's circle of friends. When they interact, Rin remarks that he reminds him of Momotaro, another HotBlooded FieryRedhead.
720* ForgottenFirstMeeting: [[spoiler: He met Rei while looking in a library for books that would help him regain his ability to swim freestyle. They both reunite near the ending of season three.]]
721** ''High Speed! 2'' reveals that Asahi had known Rin as a child, since their fathers were friends, and he was part of the relay that first inspired Rin to start swimming. However, they lost touch after Rin's father died, and they most likely don't remember each other because they were young at the time. [[spoiler:In ''Road to the World: Dream'', they acknowledge that they do at least find each other familiar, though not completely remembering who the other is.]]
722* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The choleric of his middle school team.
723* HairTriggerTemper: Is prone to getting very loud and snippy when offended or frustrated.
724* HeroicWillpower: After forgetting how to swim freestyle, Nao suggests that he does some mental training, which leads to Asahi borrowing books on boosting confidence and chanting, "I'm a genius" before competitions. ''Dive to the Future'' shows that he still does that.
725* HiddenDepths: Despite his reputation as the idiot of the team, he is surprisingly smart and often ends up solving the problems others are facing:
726** When Haruka and Makoto are unable to perform in the relay well because they felt their previous team was the best ever, he reveals he too feels the same regarding his previous team and points out that this shouldn’t stop them from performing well with their present team. This inspires them to do better.
727** He successfully manipulates Kotarou Terashima (aka [[EmbarrassingNickname the archerfish of Naruto]]) into giving them information of Ikuya's whereabouts.
728** When Haru is feeling guilty due to Hiyori’s "Everyone who swims with you suffers" jab, he points out that neither him, nor Makoto have ever suffered despite swimming with Haru.
729* HotBlooded: On top of his very energetic personality, he's extremely passionate about swimming and was unsurprisingly the most enthusiastic about joining the middle school's swim club. So enthusiastic that he tries to get a reluntant Haru and Makoto along with a dismissive Ikuya to join when they first meet.
730* HowDoIShotWeb: In the middle of practice, he suddenly forgets how to swim freestyle. He later realizes it's because he was too intimidated by Haruka's superior freestyle, but once he realizes that Haru himself isn't perfect, he's able to swim it again.
731* HypocriticalHumor: Calls Kisumi "desperate to be accepted" for wanting to call Haru and Makoto by their first names. Immediately wants to do the same when the two have no problem with it.
732* {{Keet}}: This guy is pretty cheerful and energetic, even during his college years when he's grown much taller. Even then, he tends to act childish for his age, mainly when excited or irritated.
733* TheLancer: In both ''Starting Days'' and among Haruka's circle in ''Dive to the Future''.
734* LargeHam: '''[[SkywardScream I CAN'T SWIM FREESTYLE ANYMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!]]'''
735* MrViceGuy: He's got a huge ego and just as large of a fiery temper to match, but as Kisumi points out, he's actually a pretty nice guy, willing to befriend anyone at least interested in swimming and standing up to those who confront his friends.
736%%* PluckyComicRelief
737* SmallNameBigEgo: Throughout the beginning of Starting Days, he actually believed that he invincible and perfect (in both swimming and basketball), but after seeing Haruka swim, he begins struggling to swim freestyle. The books he borrows tell him to think more positively about himself, which only motivates him to brag about being a genius. While he eventually has to admit to himself that he's not perfect, he's still has a lot of pride in himself, even in his college years.
738* SurvivalMantra: “I am a genius, I am a genius, I am a genius”. All while looking into a mirror.
739* VitriolicBestBuds: He and Ikuya would regularly insult each other and overall did not get along in ''Starting Days'', but they eventually become this after joining the swim team together.
740** His friendship with [[TheGadfly Kisumi]] becomes this by the time they enter their college years.
741[[/folder]]
742
743[[folder:Ikuya Kirishima]]
744
745!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KoukiUchiyama (Japanese), Creator/LeeGeorge (English)
746
747
748[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ikuya1.jpg]]
749 [[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Breaststroke\
750'''Middle school:''' Iwatobi Junior High School\
751'''High school:''' Shionezaki High School\
752'''University:''' Shimogami University]]
753
754
755Moody and distant, Ikuya is the exact opposite of Asahi both in personality and mindset. He initially hates the idea of joining the school's swim club, stating that school clubs are childish compared to a real club. It just so happens his older brother is the captain of the school's swim club, and the two have an icy relationship.
756----
757* AnimalMotifs: Beluga whale.
758* BigBrotherWorship: Ikuya tries his best to get Natsuya's attention, mostly by copying Haruka, who was praised by him.
759* DeadpanSnarker: Ikuya is very sullen and makes sarcastic remarks, Asahi often being on the receiving end.
760* FairytaleMotifs: Ikuya draws parallels to ''Literature/TheLittleMermaid'', which he has admitted is his favorite story. He compares the mermaid's suffering when she first came onto land to the multiple times he's nearly drowned.
761* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The melancholic of his middle school team.
762* FriendlessBackground: Ikuya had no friends (other than his brother) before joining the swim club. [[spoiler:After [[HeroicBSOD Haru]], [[TheDutifulSon Makoto]], and [[TheMovingExperience Asahi]] quit the swim team, he starts questioning if they were ever friends in the first place and starts disconnecting with people.]]
763* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: In ''Dive to the Future'', Ikuya's regarded as a loner, as he refuses to participate in teams and only has a friend in Hiyori. In the first episode, he's wearing headphones and ignoring everyone else.
764* HomoeroticSubtext: There is no girl that he appears to be close with at all and he seems very obsessed with Haruka. [[spoiler: They shared a promise under shooting stars which is rather common in typical love stories, he drew parallel between himself to The Little Mermaid and compared his loneliness to the suffering she endured for the prince, and his story arc with Haruka in season 3 follows a breakup-and-reconcilation motif.]]
765* IWorkAlone: In ''Dive to the Future'', Ikuya refuses to swim in team medleys because he feels he is too dependent on others and believes he cannot improve his own weaknesses as an individual, something he realized after [[spoiler:Haru, Makoto, and Asahi quit Iwatobi's swim team in middle school]].
766* IncestSubtext: Ikuya was very clingy to Natsuya and his character conflict in ''High Speed!'' dealt with Natsuya growing apart from him. It gets to the point where he tries to imitate Haruka closely just so Natsuya would compliment him.
767* InelegantBlubbering: After Haru, Makoto, and Asahi give him a YouAreNotAlone speech, he begins bawling loudly.
768* JackOfAllStats: His usual event is the Individual Medley.
769* MistakenForSuicidal: [[spoiler: Asahi tackles him to the ground while he's found on a bridge. Ikuya wasn't actually committing suicide but was looking for his old swim club building.]]
770* NotSoAboveItAll: For all his talk against Asahi's childishness, Ikuya's got his own immature side, which shows up in him imitating Haruka. And he does so in the hopes his brother, who praised Haruka, will notice him.
771* TheRival: To Haru at first, but also becomes one to Rin once they meet.
772* SourOutsideSadInside: Ikuya isn't very good at being nice, but it comes from years of having no friends and becoming a little socially awkward as a result. In ''Dive to the Future'', this becomes even worse as he becomes very bitter about [[spoiler:Haru, Makoto, and Asahi leaving him]].
773* {{Tsundere}}: Ikuya is mostly grumpy, but there are times when he's NotSoAboveItAll, particularly when it comes to getting Natsuya's attention. In ''Starting Days'', when Kisumi cajoles Ikuya into sitting with them during lunch, Ikuya turns into a blushing, stuttering mess as he reluctantly accepts.
774* UsedToBeASweetKid: If [[UnreliableNarrator Hiyori's]] flashbacks come to mind, Ikuya used to smile a lot and was very gentle, even after what happened to him in middle school. However, now he is gloomy, detached, and isn't even sure what friends are.
775* WhenHeSmiles: After Asahi's clumsy attempt to offer his shirt for crying on, he goes from crying to laughing, getting the widest smile on his face.
776* VitriolicBestBuds: He and Asahi eventually become friends in middle school, but he still holds a sharp tongue against him. In fact, [[spoiler: his awkwardly polite conversation with Asahi when they first met each other again without [[CrazyJealousGuy Hiyori]]'s intervention shows that they are not as close as before. Thankfully, this is restored by the end of the season.]]
777[[/folder]]
778
779[[folder:Natsuya Kirishima]]
780
781!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenjiNojima (Japanese), Creator/RiccoFajardo (English)
782
783[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/natsuya1.jpg]]
784 [[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Freestyle stroke\
785'''Middle school:''' Iwatobi Junior High School\
786'''High school:''' Soufukan High School]]
787
788The middle school swim team's brash but charismatic captain. Natsuya sees an opportunity with the four 1st-years swimming styles and wastes no time assigning them as a medley team. He treats everyone on the team amiably, but his behavior around his younger brother is cold.
789
790In ''Dive to the Future'', Natsuya reveals that he spends his time WalkingTheEarth and using the prize money from various races to fund his next adventure.
791
792----
793* AloofBigBrother: Natsuya acts very distant to Ikuya in ''Starting Days'' in hopes it will encourage him to reach out to others more, which strains their relationship. They have a better relationship in "Dive to the Future", but Natsuya's habit of WalkingTheEarth means he's still not around much.
794* AnimalMotifs: Tiger shark.
795* BigBrotherMentor: To Ikuya when they were younger. In ''Starting Days'', he's more distant from Ikuya despite taking on something of a TeamDad role with other young swimmers. By the time of ''Dive to the Future'', they're on good terms and [[spoiler:Ikuya narrowly defeats Natsuya in the Individual Medley event at the All-Japan Invitational]].
796* ButNowIMustGo: After his impromptu race with Rin gets interrupted by a rainstorm, Natsuya abruptly decides that he's heading back to Japan, because swimming with Rin made him realize what he's really missing (Nao).
797* TheDrifter: In ''Dive to the Future'', Natsuya [[WalkingTheEarth wanders all over the place]], winning prize money in swimming competitions and using the winnings to travel to a new destination.
798* {{Expy}}:
799** In ''Starting Days'', his role is similar to Seijuurou's at Samezuka in the first two seasons. They're both HotBlooded team captains as well as BigBrotherMentor types. Unlike Seijuurou, Natsuya spends a year on the same team as his little brother, and they're [[AloofBigBrother not on great terms]].
800** He moves out of Seijuurou's shadow in ''Dive to the Future'', wherein he's eschewed the typical competitive swimming path and spends his time WalkingTheEarth by means of winning prize money in swimming competitions around the world.
801* HiddenHeartOfGold: [[spoiler:He really just wants Ikuya to go out and make friends, instead of tagging behind him always.]]
802* HotBlooded:
803** In ''Starting Days'', his reaction to Haruka refusing to swim in the medley is to immediately strip and challenge Haru to a race.
804** ''Dive to the Future'' shows that Natsuya has become even more impulsive and spirited over the years, and one of his first scenes involves him beating ''every swimmer on Rin's elite college team'' because he thinks that will inspire Mikhail to coach him.
805* OlderThanTheyLook: He along with Nao is this to Seijuurou. They look and sound younger than he does but are a year older.
806* RedOniBlueOni: The fiery counterpart to Nao's calm.
807* TeamDad: He's the captain of Iwatobi's middle school swim club, and he provides guidance and inspiration to the younger swimmers (alongside gentler, subtler [[TeamMom Nao]]). The two of them are shown keeping an eye on the team's summer practice, and Natsuya tells Nao that they "don't have to spoil them so much."
808* WalkingTheEarth: In episode 3 of ''Dive to the Future'', he reveals to Rin Matsuoka that he's been doing this after ''Starting Days''. He travels around the world entering swimming competitions, uses the prize money to fund his next trip, and repeats.
809[[/folder]]
810
811[[folder:Nao Serizawa]]
812
813!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SatoshiHino (Japanese), Creator/OscarSeung (English)
814
815[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nao1.jpg]]
816[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Backstroke\
817'''Middle school:''' Iwatobi Junior High School\
818'''High school:''' Soufukan High School\
819'''University:''' Oudoukan University]]
820
821The swimming club's manager. In contrast to the captain, Nao's personality is calm and gentle. Possesses a strong knowledge of swimming.
822
823In ''Dive to the Future'', Nao attends university in Tokyo and is majoring in sports medicine.
824----
825* TheAce: People wonder why he's only the club's manager, because it's obvious that he's athletic and talented. [[spoiler:Turns out he was the team's best swimmer, but his eyesight started going bad due to retinal detachment and he had to stop swimming until he could have surgery and time to recover]].
826* AnimalMotifs: Northern gannet (a type of sea bird).
827* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Unwittingly does this to Makoto when he questions his motivation for swimming.
828* DeadpanSnarker: Occasionally, but not in a mean way. It's usually directed at [[HotBlooded Natsuya]].
829* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: In college, his hair is shorter than it used to be in middle school.
830* GameBreakingInjury: [[spoiler: Like [[BrokenAce Sousuke]] in ''Eternal Summer'', Nao noticed but ignored a health problem until it became so serious he had to stop swimming. Fortunately, unlike Sousuke's [[CareerEndingInjury permanently damaged shoulder]], Nao's injury (retinal detachment) should not hinder him in swimming once he's recovered from surgery]]. By the time of ''Dive to the Future'', he's doing well but his vision has gotten worse, judging by his [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses new glasses]]. He's studying sports medicine in school, hoping to rehab and prevent injuries in other young athletes.
831* InformedAbility: He's supposedly a good swimmer, but due to [[spoiler:his illness]] and being a supporting character, he is never actually seen swimming in any of the episodes. He is finally seen swimming with Makoto in ''Road to the World''.
832* RedOniBlueOni: The gentle, patient blue oni corresponding to Natsuya's brash red.
833* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: In college, he acquires a pair of glasses, due to his eyesight worsening.
834* TeamMom: The knowledgeable, caring (yet somewhat witty) manager of the swim club, and a fitting counterpart to [[TeamDad Natsuya's]] intensity and more hands-on approach to leadership.
835* WiseBeyondTheirYears: In addition to his swimming knowledge, Nao is highly perceptive of the people around him.
836[[/folder]]
837
838[[folder:Akane Kurimiya]]
839!!Akane Kurimiya
840-> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/HitomiNabatame (Japanese), Creator/JeannieTirado (English)
841Asahi’s older sister, as well as the wife of sports journalist Kon Kurimiya. She currently runs Café Marron, where a decent portion of ''Dive to the Future'' takes place. She eventually has a child, Tsukushi Kurimiya.
842----
843* AscendedExtra: Gets only a small scene in ''Starting Days'' before becoming a recurring supporting character in ''Dive to the Future''.
844* CoolBigSis: Is supportive of her younger brother Asahi as well as his teammates and lets them hang out at the café she runs.
845[[/folder]]
846
847!!Introduced in ''Free! Take Your Marks''
848[[folder:Misaki Kuramoto]]
849!!Misaki Kuramoto
850->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YukaTerasaki (Japanese), Creator/MorganBerry (English)
851A young swimmer who Haruka and Makoto encounter in Tokyo. His motivation is to swim with and measure up against his own childhood friend and rival, Kaoru Natsume.
852----
853* GenerationXerox: His motivation and drive to race with his friend easily mirrors Rin's childhood friendship and rivalry with Haruka.
854[[/folder]]
855
856%%[[folder:Aoba Usami]]
857%%!!Aoba Usami
858%%----
859%%[[/folder]]
860
861[[folder:Hiyori Toono]]
862
863!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RyoheiKimura (Japanese), Creator/JasonLiebrecht (English)
864
865[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hiyori1.jpg]]
866[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Backstroke\
867'''High school:''' Shionezaki High School\
868'''University:''' Shimogami University]]
869
870Hiyori is Ikuya's best friend, having studied with him abroad in America in high school.
871----
872* AnimalMotifs: Polar bear.
873* CrazyJealousGuy: Hiyori is mostly polite to everyone, but he's also alarmingly protective of Ikuya, often reaffirming to Haru that ''he's'' his best friend.
874* ForgottenFirstMeeting: Hiyori had met Ikuya when they were in the same swim club as children before he moved away. [[spoiler:Ikuya doesn't remember this until episode 8 of ''Dive to the Future''.]]
875* GenderBlenderName: Like Haru and the others, Hiyori has a neutral name that's often associated with girls.
876* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Hiyori constantly keeps tabs on Ikuya to make sure he's doing okay, including visiting him routinely to make sure he eats, keeping Natsuya updated on his condition, and having a watchful eye on him during swim practice.
877* TheUnapologetic: [[spoiler:After the end of episode 4 of "Dive to the Future", where Hiyori outright said to Haru that he causes nothing but suffering to anyone around him, Hiyori never apologizes for such a response, nor does anyone ask him to do so.]]
878* WellIntentionedExtremist: Since Hiyori knows Haru at a very shallow and personal level, it's easy to see that he's only keeping him away from Ikuya for his best interests. At the same time, his gatekeeping can be extreme, like only relenting to give Haru, Makoto, and Asahi a chance to have a simple conversation with Ikuya through a swim race.
879[[/folder]]
880
881!!Introduced in ''Free! - Dive to the Future'' (Season 3)
882[[folder:Romio Hanahune]]
883
884!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AtsushiAbe (Japanese), Parker Gray (English)
885
886[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/romio1.jpg]]
887[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Freestyle stroke\
888'''Middle school:''' Kishikubo Middle School\
889'''High school:''' Iwatobi High School]]
890
891One of the two swimmers that joined the Iwatobi Swim Club following Haru and Makoto's graduation. He was born in New York, and lived in Tokyo for a while beforing moving to Iwatobi Town.
892----
893* {{Keet}}: He's normally almost as bubbly and excitable as Nagisa.
894* PerformanceAnxiety: [[spoiler: During his final middle school tournament, he suffered from a false start which affected his performance when under pressure in a large crowd. Sousuke is the first to notice this and both he and Rei help Romio recover from it.]]
895[[/folder]]
896
897[[folder:Shizuru Isurugi]]
898
899!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshitsuguMatsuoka (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English)
900
901[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shizuru1.jpg]]
902[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Backstroke\
903'''Middle school:''' Kishikubo Middle School\
904'''High school:''' Iwatobi High School]]
905
906One of the two swimmers joined the Iwatobi Swim Club following Haru and Makoto's graduation.
907----
908* TheComicallySerious: He is always TheStoic but very seriously keeps using marine life metaphors and expresses great interest in the camel that appears in the promotional video for the club.
909* TheStoic: Hardly ever speaks or emotes.
910[[/folder]]
911
912[[folder:Ayumu Kunikida]]
913
914!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RyoHirohashi (Japanese), Creator/ApphiaYu (English)
915
916[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ayumu1.jpg]]
917[[caption-width-right:200: '''High school:''' Iwatobi High School]]
918
919The manager-in-training that joined the Iwatobi Swim Club and will replace Gou once she graduates.
920----
921* BoyishShortHair
922* ChubbyChaser: Says she likes guys "with a little meat on them" when talking to Gou, who is horrified when she realizes Ayumu doesn't mean muscles.
923* CuteSportsClubManager: Becomes the new one for the Iwatobi Swim Club following Haru and Makoto's graduation.
924[[/folder]]
925
926[[folder:Mikhail Makarovich [[spoiler:Nitori]]]]
927
928!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HidenobuKiuchi (JP), Creator/PhilParsons (EN)
929
930[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mikhail1.jpg]]
931[[caption-width-right:200:some caption text]]
932
933Rin's swim coach in ''Dive to the Future''. A Russian former professional swimmer who speaks Japanese. [[spoiler:He's also a distant relative of Aiichiro's.]]
934----
935* AmbiguouslyGay: Mikhail ''really'' likes young men's muscles, enough to keep books of them. This makes Rin somewhat uncomfortable.
936* EccentricMentor: With his muscle obsession and outdated slang, qualifies.
937* {{Expy}}: His blond hair, green eyes, facial hair, and [[AmbiguouslyGay mannerisms]] make him very similar to [[Anime/YuriOnIce Christophe Giacometti]].
938* RedOniBlueOni: The vibrant red to Ryuji's serene blue.
939[[/folder]]
940
941[[folder:Ryuji [[spoiler:Azuma]]]]
942
943!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakeshiKusao (JP), Creator/BrandonPotter (EN)
944
945[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ryuji1.jpg]]
946
947Ryuji is a mysterious drifter who takes an interest in coaching Haru. He's also a food blogger. [[spoiler:He's later revealed to be a relative of Shizuru.]]
948----
949* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:He's actually the legendary "[=PKH=] Azuma" who Gou, Rei, and Nagisa discover in ''Take Your Marks''.]]
950* ChickMagnet: [[spoiler:He was so attractive that literally a lot of girls joined the swim team as managers.]]
951* EarlyBirdCameo: He appears in episode 0 of ''Dive to the Future'' when Haruka walks past him after finding Iwatobi's beak.
952* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler: Not being by his close friend's side after an accident, and choosing to race in a tournament instead. It is heavily implied in ''The Final Stroke'' that this friend was a father figure of Kaede's.]]
953* RedOniBlueOni: The blue to Mikhail's red.
954* RetiredBadass: [[spoiler:Is revealed to be a former competitive swimmer and a former rival of Mikhail, but after a major loss as a result of the mental state of knowing a friend of his had been severely hurt, he decided to retire.]]
955[[/folder]]
956
957[[folder:Isuzu Mikoshiba]]
958
959!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RinaSato (JP), Creator/MikaelaKrantz (EN)
960
961[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/isuzu1.jpg]]
962[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Freestyle stroke\
963'''High school:''' Hidaka University High School]]
964
965Isuzu is the younger sister of Seijuurou and the older sister of Momotarou. She's the captain of Hidaka University High School's swim team.
966----
967* AscendedExtra: Seijuurou having a sister was only mentioned briefly in a drama CD from the first season, where he mentions taking his sister out to watch the movie ''A Rat's Life''. However, she was made into a character and was integrated into the story in ''Dive to the Future''.
968* BirdsOfAFeather: Gets along immediately with Gou due to their mutual interest in male muscles.
969* GamerChick: She frequents fighting games at the local arcade.
970* {{Fetish}}: Like Gou, she has a thing for muscles.
971* TheSmurfettePrinciple: A downplayed example as she's far from the only female cast member, but she is currently the only female within the recurring cast who is a swimmer as well as the only female captain.
972* StrongFamilyResemblance: She has the same red-orange hair, golden eyes, and hot-blooded yet goofy personality as both her brothers. She also becomes fascinated, though not attracted with Gou at first sight.
973* TomboyandGirlyGirl: The tomboy to Gou's girly girl.
974* TheWorfEffect: Good at fighting games as she is, a mysterious boy later revealed to be [[spoiler:Albert Wahlånder, the ''college swimming world champion'']] is introduced absolutely trouncing her.
975[[/folder]]
976
977[[folder:Albert Wåhlander]]
978
979!!!'''Voiced by:''' Jeff Manning (Japanese), Creator/DamanMills (English)
980
981[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/al1.jpg]]
982
983The college world champion swimmer, from Sweden. Has his eye on Haru for as yet unknown reasons.
984----
985* TheBigGuy: He is ripped and at 192 cm (6'3½"), he is one of the tallest named character, even taller than Seijuro Mikoshiba.
986* TheDreaded: His skills are almost inhuman, as Mikhail puts it. [[spoiler:While Haru finally manages to beat him in the World Tournament relay race, [[HeroicRROD he ends up spending too much energy]] and [[PostVictoryCollapse collapses shortly afterwards]]]].
987* FishOutOfWater: Needs Haru's help to buy food at a cafeteria, and doesn't know how to use chopsticks.
988* LanguageBarrier: Somewhat [[SubvertedTrope subverted.]] Albert only speaks English and Haru only speaks Japanese, but they somehow understand each other just right. It's implied that they both understand the language better than speaking it.
989* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Most of the cast had their character designs released before the start of the show. Albert was hyped up to be an important character judging from ''Dive to the Future'''s opening, but he isn't seen until the 9th episode.
990* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The official Kyoto Animation website gives his surname as "Volandel" but that's not a real Swedish surname; "Wåhlander" and "Vålander", however, are. Funimation's subs go with the "Wåhlander" spelling.
991* TechnicolorEyes: A bright violet-pink.
992* TheWorfEffect: His only purpose in the series is to show how much Haru needs to personally train after he beats him in a freestyle relay.
993[[/folder]]
994
995[[folder:Kaede Kinjou]]
996
997!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/DaisukeOno
998
999[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kinjou1.jpg]]
1000[[caption-width-right:200: '''Specialty:''' Freestyle stroke\
1001'''University:''' Naribusawa University]]
1002
1003The college swimmer from Naribusawa. He speacialize in Freestyle and has broken a lot of records.
1004
1005* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Him bumping Hiyori and Asahi while entering the competition, then ''trouncing'' everyone in the pre tournament. This is enough to tell us that he is both a jerk and a competent swimmer.
1006* {{Jerkass}} : Bumping both Hiyori and Asahi and in the bonus video bullying a now nicer Hiyori for no reason at all.
1007* SlasherSmile: Always sports this - even when ''swimming''.
1008* SmugSuper: Ooooh so much. Even when he doesn't say a word, it is not hard to tell that he is an arrogant athlete. Then we have his first scene where he bullies Hiyori and taunting Ikuya, Natsuya and Sousuke.
1009* UsedToBeASweetKid: Is shown being very excitable and friendly towards Hiyori as children, trying to cheer him up after noticing his [[LonersAreFreaks loner status]].
1010* TheWorfEffect: While he is a great swimmer himself, it is all but stated that Albert is out of Kinjou's league.
1011
1012[[/folder]]

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