Japan’s Daiya Seto Graduates Into Ranks Of Professional Swimmers

Following in the footsteps of countryman and fellow Olympic teammate Kosuke Hagino, Japan’s Daiya Seto is joining the ranks of the international professional swimming elite. Having just graduated from Waseda University this month where Seto had been studying sports science for the past 4 years, the IM and butterfly specialist has signed his first partnership agreement with All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline.

At 22 years of age, Seto already has an Olympic bronze medal in his collection of competitive swimming accolades, having finished 3rd in the men’s 400m IM event in Rio. Teammate Kosuke Hagino earned the gold in that race, with American Chase Kalisz scoring the silver. We previously reported how, in conjunction with his graduation from Toyo University, Hagino earned his first professional sponsorship through a partnership with Bridgestone Corporation.

As ANA is the official airline partner of Tokyo 2020, Seto has set himself up to be one of the most prolific faces of his home nation’s Olympics. With the slogan of ‘Let’s make 2020 our runway’ in the background, ANA says it’s aiming to convey its ‘commitment to design and provide in-flight and airport services that can be enjoyed by all customers regardless of the culture, language, nationality, age, gender or disability, and to serve as a bridge connecting Japan with the world beyond 2020 in line with the contribution to the success of the Tokyo 2020 Games through our products and services.’

For Seto, he told the press this week that he ‘absolutely wants to take gold in Tokyo’. To kick-off the new quadrennial, Seto will be competing at the Japan National Championships next month, where he will try to notch multiple roster spots for Japan’s World Championship squad.