Iwatobi-chan

Iwatobi-chan (イワトビちゃん) is a bird-like figure that serves as the mascot of Iwatobi High School. It is a mute, but comical, figure featured throughout the franchise in various incarnations.

Appearance
The figure is that of a yellow bird with pink-tipped wings, two black-irised eyes with yellow sclera and orange beak set into a large, round taupe-colored head. While seen without clothing on occasion, Iwatobi-chan is also seen wearing both a blue swim brief or a pink bikini in Episode 2. In the OVA, Buildup of Early Spring!, it serves as a life-size costume complete with purple sumo mawashi and oversized head.

Other versions of Iwatobi-chan include sweet-filled sandwiches and icon-stamped pink mochi beloved by Nagisa Hazuki. It also appears as a logo on Iwatobi High School Swim Club t-shirts. In the OVA, the costume is worn by Makoto Tachibana, who is manipulated into being Iwatobi High School’s mascot in the Tournament of Mascots being held in Tokyo. The beak of the costume, having been lost earlier, is returned to the tournament team by Haruka Nanase who unwittingly finds it while walking through the city. Haruka remains for the tournament and wears an Iwatobi-chan cap while cheering on Iwatobi-chan/Makoto.

Story
Iwatobi-chan debuts as a four-inch carved wooden figure to be given to those joining the Swim Club being resurrected by Nagisa, Makoto and Haruka in Free! Although no one actually joins the team, the carved figures are taken by those attending the pre-season meeting. The original members then search for the required fourth swimmer that results in track athlete Rei Ryugazaki leaving the track team to become a swim club member, despite not knowing how to swim. With Gou Matsuoka joining as manager and Miho Amakata becoming their advisor, the team is established.

Trivia

 * It may be speculated that the mascot is modeled after the winged shape that appears on the Iwatobi High School logo. Iwatobi Badge.png
 * The name Iwatobi is derived from not only in-universe town of Iwatobi but also the Japanese name for the Rockhopper penguin (イワトビペンギン Iwatobi pengin).