In addition to welcoming his second daughter with wife Yuka Mabuchi, multi-world champion and Olympic bronze medalist Daiya Seto is embracing a new way to train for a home-based Olympic Games now set for July 2021.
As we’ve seen with Dutch Olympic champion Sharon van Rouwendaal and Hungarian world champion Boglarka Kapas, 25-year-old Seto has installed a temporary, above-ground pool outside his home. On Instagram today he showed himself swimming breaststroke and freestyle while tethered to the side of the pool.
Accompanying his video were Seto’s comments, “Now I can swim lightly at home.
“There are small joints and muscles that do not move unless you have the feeling of catching water or swimming so I have to swim.”
Seto was the 400m IM bronze medalist at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio but has since been on a tear across the 200m IM, 400m IM, and 200m fly events. He was entering Trials season as far and away the top-ranked 400m IMer with a season-best 4:06.09 and also held a comfortable lead in the rankings in the shorter IM with a season-best of 1:55.55.
Via the man’s performances at last year’s World Championships in Gwangju, Korea, Seto has already qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games, even amidst postponement, in the 200m and 400m IM. He was set to race the 200m fly at the Japan Swim, owning a world-leading time of 1:52.53 from January of this year.
As such, the now-dad of 2 girls took a while to come to terms with his upward trajectory’s detour. On April 10th we reported Seto’s sentiments of, “There was no way I could bring myself to talk about next year and honestly, I’m still struggling to pick up the pieces and regroup. Because of the coronavirus, I’m not training at all these days.”
Where there is a will, there is a way.
He is a great sportsman, great traditional Japanese man with high morals!! Go Daiya!!!
He has picked up the pieces, now he is starting to put them back together.
Daiya is just something else. Winners find a way, loosers find an excuse.
No sitting in the basement for 12-18 months for Daiya 🙂