A gold medalist from the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea has been elected as chairman of the Japanese Swimming Federation (JASF).
As voted on by the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors today in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, 54-year-old Daichi Suzuki will take on the chairman role, with his term spanning two years. Suzuki will be taking over the position from outbound Tsuyoshi Ao.
Additionally, Takayuki Umehara, former coach of multi-world champion and short course world record holder Daiya Seto will take on the role of chairman of the swimming committee within the federation. Seto had been with Umehara since the early stages of his elite career, only changing over to Ryuichiro Ura, a former teammate in May of 2020.
As we previously reported, national team coach Norimasa Hirai had held this chairman role but announced his retirement from only the latter role effective after next month’s Olympic Games. As such, Umehara will assume the responsibilities in the chairman arena, which include overall assessment and improvement of competitive swimming, training camps and workshops, as well as an active role in the international competitions and training.
