Interview with Daiya Seto, Japan National Swimming Team: “At that time, I lost everything, and swimming was the only thing that stuck with me.”

“I will win the gold medal, or else. I don’t run a solid race. I’m fine with either one or the other at next year’s Paris Olympics.”

The words of Daiya Seto (29), who said so categorically, were full of his passion for the big stage.

At the World Swimming Championships held in Fukuoka in July, Seto won the bronze medal in the men’s 400m individual medley. It was one of the two medals won by the Japanese swimmers, and it showed the resurgence of the team, but Seto seemed unsatisfied.

 

“I was depressed because I swam so close to winning the medal,” he said. “Of course, I was happy to have won a medal in a tangible way at least. But I had set myself the goal of a personal best and a silver medal or better for the Paris Olympics, and I was shocked to see how far I had come from there. If there is one positive aspect, it is that I am glad I failed before the Paris Olympics.”

For Japan’s swimming ace, a bronze medal at the World Championships was nothing. In the past, he won four gold medals at the World Championships, but none at the Olympics. That is why Seto is so determined to be number one at the Olympics.

It has been three years since his affair scandal in 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when he was not awarded a gold medal, and his desire to make a comeback and to remind himself is evident.

“I was very selfish at the time, and I was also very stubborn and disorganized in my daily life. I was in a good mood, and even if the article had not come out at that time, I am sure I would have been in some kind of trouble. After the scandal, my wife (Yuka Mabuchi, 28) and I talked about creating an environment where I could concentrate on competing.”

Mabuchi, a former member of Japan’s diving team, announced her return to competition in December 2021. In order to concentrate on their training, they moved their lives to separate locations and have been living separately ever since. The only time the family is together is on weekends.

 

“At the time, it was reported that Mr. Watanabe (50) was working part-time at the Toyosu market. It made me wonder what I could do. After months of self-reflection, I realized that swimming was the only thing for me. I had lost everything, but swimming was the only thing that stuck with me.”

He had a strong desire to win a medal at the Olympics. From rock bottom to the top of the world, Seto has begun his journey once again. To revive his career, he began working under coach Kenshi Kato in 2022 who is known for his strict coaching. He trained for eight hours a day, finishing at 10:00 p.m., and went back and forth between his home and the practice field. He spent a year and a half shuttling back and forth between home and the practice field.

He said, “I continued to practice with Coach Kato with an intensity that could not be matched in preparation for my return, and I learned a lot about the way he thinks about competition. From now on, I will add my strengths to the foundation I have built. There is only one more year until the Paris Olympics. Right now, I am focusing on accumulating effective training for myself.”

In the first place, he was called a “genius” when it came to swimming, and he believes that there must be a realm that only a person with natural talent can understand, so he says, “From now on, I want to value my sensitivity.”

“In order to win, you need to practice for every shot you take. In a word, explosiveness. I need to be able to do what I am good at, which is blasting away from the beginning of the race. If I don’t do that, I don’t think I can aim for the gold medal.”

Welcoming the Olympics as a Father

He talked about the reason why he has been able to endure the grueling training after the scandal, even though he was mentally challenged.

“Of course, my family has been a great support. After winning a medal at the World Championships in swimming, my wife told me that ‘It’s good that you won, but you shouldn’t get carried away’, and now every time I hear it, it makes me tense up.”

Mabuchi is no longer expected to compete in the Paris Olympics, and there is a possibility that she may retire. If that happens, she plans to live with her family.

 

“For example, I would like to bring my wife and children to the training camp and spend time with them.”

As he said this, Seto told us about a change that had come to his family.

“My daughters, who are 5 and 3 years old, started taking swimming lessons after the World Swimming Championships. My older daughter said, ‘I’m going to swim in the World Swimming Championships and the Olympics’. My younger daughter was afraid of the water at first, but after watching her older sister, she wanted to do it, so she started recently.”

The children were inspired by watching their father swim.

“I think they were influenced by my swimming. I want to let them do what they want to do, so basically I don’t interfere too much. In fact, my wife is more likely to say a lot of things.”

“Aside from coaching, I never want to lose to my children. Even if the day comes when I am no longer a top athlete, I will continue to compete in Masters and other events, and no matter how old I get, I will never lose.”

 

At the age of 30, he will be entering the Paris Olympics. His mentality has changed dramatically over the past three years. Before the scandal, he was so sharp that it was difficult for those around him to talk to him, but now he is more open to those around him, as he says, “I often go out to eat with my juniors these days.”

He has also kept his own counsel in the face of infighting in the swimming federation. After the World Swimming Championships, some athletes criticized the federation’s strengthening system on SNS. Coach Hakumasa Hirai, 60, who coached Kosuke Kitajima and others, revealed inside information, and the turmoil continues.

“One of the causes is that the athletes have exceeded the experience of the coaches. We need to talk about what to do about it.”

Seto, who has grown as an athlete and as a human being, will be making his third appearance on the big stage. Although the world record holder “monster” Léon Marchand (21) and others stand in the way of his long-cherished dream, Seto is looking straight ahead to the summit.

“I have one year left until the Paris Olympics, and I’m feeling happy right now. However, becoming a gold medalist is a dream of mine that I haven’t achieved yet. My pride will not allow me to finish without winning a gold medal in a competition with the title of Olympics. I will definitely achieve it, so please look forward to it.”

Seto smiled as he said this. He will make his last spurt for the rest of the year to show his family how his father’s father did at the Paris Olympics with a gold medal hanging around his neck.

Unpublished photos of Daiya Seto, representative of Japan’s swimming team.