The water is alive.
That thought always went through my mind in the past.
The water really is alive.
No matter how much your body grows and changes,
it envelops you just the same,
as if it were a living thing.
But...
For how long?
There was one other thing I used to think about a lot...
If I'm a prodigy at ten
and a genius at fifteen,
after I hit twenty, I'll be...
Makoto...
Morning, Haru-chan.
Hey—
Not nice, Haru!
You're here to swim, aren't you?
Yeah, but still...
I swear, sometimes it seems like you can't survive out of water, Haru-chan.
I keep telling you not to call me "Haru-chan."
Come to think of it, you always used to say
you couldn't wait to be an ordinary person.
Do you still feel that way?
I...
Oh, yikes!
See ya, Haru! Good luck!
Thanks.
An ordinary person...
I'm never going to be an ordinary person.
What are you talking about?
It's a saying.
Don't even worry about that, Ikuya. You're not gonna turn ordinary.
You're Ikuya, you know.
Is that a compliment?
Of course!
What? Did I make you mad?
No.
Episode 1: Sprouting Dive Start!
Rin, aren't you leaving?
I'm gonna swim a little longer.
Okay, have fun.
Thanks. See you tomorrow.
Rin-senpai Pyunsuke!!!
Just woke up from hibernation!
Those guys never change.
Hidaka University
H-Hey, aren't you...
Nanase Haruka?!
D-Do you remember me? We used to...
Asahi?
Shiina Asahi?
That's right! I'm Asahi!
It really is you, Haru!
I haven't seen you since our first year in middle school!
Talk about a coincidence!
Hey, c'mon. You could look a little happier...
But I guess that reaction is typical Haru.
You haven't changed a bit!
Neither have you.
I've definitely changed!
I'm a mature man now, I'd say.
Oh, by the way, do you remember Shigino Kisumi?
He's at this university, too!
I did know that.
Man, for real?
Wait, did you go to high school with him?
No, different high schools.
His younger brother came to the Iwatobi SC,
so I saw him again there.
SC?
Are you still swimming?
Huh?
Yeah, of course I am.
I'm on my way to my first practice here.
What about you?
You quit the swim club after I moved away, right?
And you never replied to my letters...
Sorry.
But I started swimming again in high school.
I'm heading to practice now, too.
Wow, really?
That means we'll be on the same team again!
Yeah.
I'm Coach Tsukamoto.
The new first-years will be practicing with us as of today.
And let me warn you right now
that you're not going to have time to celebrate that you're college boys now.
You won't have a spare moment to waste on part-time jobs or parties.
Stay focused at all times.
We will now have the first-years introduce themselves
and swim their best stroke, one by one.
Are you ready?
Yes, sir!
Rin, you're still here.
Good timing, actually.
What is it, Coach?
I want to introduce you to someone.
Rin, this is my friend, Mihail.
Hi, Rin-kun. Wil has told me about you.
Rin-kun?
He used to live in Japan.
Those are some nice muscles...
Glad to know ya, Matsuoka Rin-kun.
Nice to meet you, too.
Next!
Nanase Haruka.
I specialize in free.
Hey, Haru, are you still saying that "I only swim free" thing?
No, I do other strokes during practice.
But...
When I'm swimming for real, it's always free.
Man, Haru's amazing!
I see.
Cho-very good, Rin-kun!
Cho-very...?
It's Japanese slang for "amazing."
He went into the turn while accelerating!
Nice kick!
That was incredible, Nanase!
I saw you swim the freestyle at the nationals last year.
What? You went to the nationals, Haru?
Our team just missed out on qualifying.
Really?
I'm Kiryuu Isana.
I swam at the nationals in the 200m freestyle.
I'm Unita Hikaru. I'm from Hokkaido.
Everyone calls him the King Salmon of the Okhotsk.
"Salmon," even though Unita has "urchin" in it!
That's pretty impressive.
Hey, you're supposed to laugh at that!
Yo, guys. High school and college are two different worlds.
Don't get careless.
R-Right!
First up is next week's newcomer tournament.
First-years from all the strongest college teams in Kanto will be there,
so don't let your guard down!
Hey, Mikoshiba!
Yes, sir! I'm coming!
Mikoshiba-senpai's swim style is all about power.
I've seen him in tournament races.
Haru, you already know Mikoshiba-senpai, right?
Yeah. We went to different high schools, but he helped me out.
Hey, by the way, what's Makoto been up to?
Is he doing okay?
He's in Tokyo, too.
Aw, man... What if I can't follow the lesson?
I could lend you my notes.
Really?
Sure.
Whoops...
Nagisa? Is that your girlfriend?
No, he's a guy.
A lot of kids joined the Iwatobi Swim Club as provisional members, but out of those...
We were in the same club.
Three stayed in the club!
Wow, Mako-chan replies fast!
Was it okay to message him? He wasn't in class or anything?
Makoto-senpai isn't the type to reply to messages during class.
Cool.
Hope it goes well.
Wait, that's it?!
Well, I guess he wouldn't know what to say when all you tell him is that
we have three new members.
All right, then, let's give him more information!
Guys, come over here! We're taking your pictures!
Okay!
Hayafune Romio Best Stroke: Freestyle
We'll start with Romi-chan.
Smile big!
Isurugi Shizuru Can swim any stroke!!
You're next, Shizu-chan!
Come on! Don't stiffen up!
Kunikida Ayumu Manager
Next, Ayumu-chan!
Ayumu-chan, relax, would you?
R-Right...
So, Ayumu-chan, what's your favorite muscle?
Uh, I'm not really into muscles...
You don't like muscles?!
Given the choice,
I'd prefer someone with a little fat on them.
You're actually into fat?!
Is it me, or do these look a bit like mugshots?
They do...
Let's all take one together, then!
We might as well get into our swimsuits!
It's certainly gutsy of you to ask me to take a picture of you in swimsuits.
But very well. Since you asked, I'll take the best photo you ever saw.
There's a famous saying that goes:
"It takes a man, not a god, to capture a miracle shot."
"Miracles don't happen, they—"
Okay, Sensei, we get it! Hurry up!
Right, right!
Pay attention, everyone!
According to photography theory... eh?
Your eyes are half-closed, Rei-kun!
That is not beautiful. Can we take another—
And sent!
It's totally you, Rei-kun.
What's that supposed to mean?!
That's so like Rei...
Nanase Haruka
Haru?
Makoto, it's me.
Uh, you're not Haru, are you?
Aw, man! He knew right away!
Who is this? Is Haru there?
He is, and Kisumi's here, too.
Um...
Hey, Makoto?
Bet you were surprised, huh? You were expecting Haru and got Asahi.
Hey!
Damn it, Kisumi! Why'd you just tell him?!
Huh? Asahi?
Wait, that Asahi?!
That's right, Makoto.
Been a while, huh?
Marron
So your older sister runs this shop, Asahi?
It belonged to my mother-in-law. She ran it for ages.
Yeah, so basically, it's my sister's shop now.
Feel free to order anything you want.
You'll have to pay, though, of course.
Man, Sis, you're so stingy.
You better believe it!
This is a business, you know.
Anyway, Makoto-kun, you sure have grown up.
Looks like a grown-up now, doesn't he?
I didn't recognize you, either.
You grew up a lot.
Yeah, well, you know...
By the way, Makoto, Haru told me
that you're majoring in sports education?
You're hoping to be a swimming teacher, right?
Yeah. I thought it'd be nice to teach little kids how fun swimming is.
Sounds just like you, Makoto.
You moved to Kyushu after you left Iwatobi, right?
Did you stick with swimming?
Yeah, but I moved to another school later, Kazami High School,
and they didn't have a swim club.
I recruited members and started up a new one. It was crazy hard.
Wow, you did that, too?
We started a new swim club at our high school, too.
Right, Haru?
Yeah, starting with fixing up the pool.
Really?! Same here!
That's really hard work, huh?
It took forever to clear out all the moss.
Hey, wanna see pictures?
Of the moss?
No!
Right here. These guys were my buddies in high school.
And this was my team in Kyushu.
We won at the junior tournament.
Eighth grade?
Ninth, I think.
And then there's...
Look how young I am!
Haru looks so young and innocent, too.
I'm still young and innocent.
You can't say that about yourself...
And Asahi looks like a monkey.
Don't call me a monkey!
Hey, look!
It's Ikuya!
I wonder what he's up to now...
Huh? What's up?
Oh, just... I never got to tell Ikuya I was moving before I left our old school.
Ikuya followed Natsuya-senpai to America from eighth grade up.
I don't know if he's still swimming, though...
We'll never make friends like the ones we had back then.
Wasn't there some movie about that?
Why are you trying to sound all cool now?
And what do you mean by the friends we had "back then"?
We're still friends now, aren't we?
Come on, you two.
Save that kind of talk for when you're doddering old geezers.
You're still young, so live your life while you can.
You're right.
Live in the present...
Which means you gotta dream big and aim for the global stage, right?
Oh, nice one, Asahi!
To reach the global stage,
first you have to win the All-Japan Invitational Tournament
and be selected for the national team.
But before that, we have the newcomer tournament.
That's the Intercollegiate Newcomer Swimming Tournament, right?
My husband said he was going to cover that.
Cover?
Oh, her husband's a sports writer.
Really? That's awesome!
So that's why there are so many articles and photos hung up in here.
Yep. And after that last tournament...
Ikuya!
Haru!
Iwatobi Middle
Crap! We were so close!
And we tried so hard...
It wasn't enough.
More... We have to practice more!
Yeah. Next time,
in next summer's tournament, we'll win for sure.
The four of us.
Yeah!
Let's start working for it right now with a training camp!
Hang on, Asahi! Isn't it too soon for that?
What are you talking about, Makoto?!
I'm so pissed off, I wanna start busting my butt right this minute!
It's looking much better.
It should be all right to swim a little, as long as you don't overdo it.
Thank you.
Restaurant Ichiyama
Dear Rin,
It's me.
Hungry, Sousuke?
Today's employee dinner.
Thanks, Kazu-nii.
Oh, you're writing a letter?
Did I interrupt?
Nah. I never get very far when I try to write letters.
True. I suck at it, too.
Dear Rin,
Certain Victory
Well, don't worry about the family.
You can let me handle the restaurant.
In the end, I'll be taking it over.
It'll be my restaurant.
I'll call it "Restaurant Kazuma."
You're even gonna change the name?
Damn right.
What the hell, man?
Nanase-san is in Tokyo today for a newcomer tournament?
Yeah.
He met up with some guys he swam medley relays with in middle school,
and now they're on the same college team.
I think their names were Asa-chan and Iku-chan.
But it sounded like he only met up with one of them.
I heard that the one
who's in the same college team with him now is named Shiina Asahi.
I think the one he hasn't heard from yet
was named Kirishima Ikuya.
Kirishima Ikuya?
You know him, Sousuke-senpai?
Yeah.
I saw him at last year's tournament.
His swimming was incredibly graceful.
The individual medley...
Individual, not the relay?
Yeah.
And his freestyle looked just like Haru's.
What?! Like Haru-chan's?!
Perhaps he was also enchanted by Haruka-senpai's freestyle
and decided he wanted to learn to swim that way himself.
That would mean he's still swimming now, right?
If he's at a university in Tokyo,
maybe they'll meet up at the tournament today!
Kanto Intercollegiate Newcomer Swimming Tournament
Let's see...
This must be it.
Hey, Kisumi?
Makoto, what are you doing?
Sorry... My train was delayed.
Hurry up! Haru and Asahi's race is about to start!
Right... Where are you?
In the audience.
I'm in the middle of the second level,
so if you head upstairs, you'll see me.
Got it.
It's been ages since I faced off against you.
Hey, Haru, do you remember what I said in middle school?
I'm gonna beat you one day for sure!
Did you say that?
Yes, I did!
At least remember the moment I declared war on you!
That makes this a battle spanning six years.
Yeah.
Back then, seeing your freestyle swim shook me up so much, I couldn't swim.
It won't be that way this time.
Oh, good... I made it in time.
Glad you made it.
I don't think I've seen Asahi swim since middle school.
Same here.
Regardless of who wins and loses,
anyone who beats the designated time goes to the All-Japan Invitational, right?
No, this is just a newcomer tournament,
so no matter how good their time is, there's no guarantee they'll go to the All-Japan.
Still,
this is their first competition as college swimmers.
It's an important debut for both Haru and Asahi.
Take your marks.
Asahi!
Haru!
They're both so fast!
That Shiina guy is an amazing swimmer, too.
What's up with Taka U's first-years this year?!
I can't afford to get lazy, either.
They're gaining even more speed!
Amazing!
They're way ahead!
What's all that?
They're just inferior copies of Ikuya.
Damn it!
I'll beat you next time for sure!
I'll be sure to win next time, too.
What the hell makes you so confident?!
You seriously haven't changed at all!
Huh?
What is it, Haru?
Ikuya?
The cogs of fate are in motion at last!
And suddenly, a reunion!
Next time: "A Promise on a Shooting Star!"
Episode 2: A Promise on a Shooting Star!
What feelings will pass through Haruka-senpai's mind?