Nao Serizawa

Nao Serizawa (芹沢 尚 Serizawa Nao) is a supporting character in the anime series Free!, beginning with the light novel High☆Speed！ written by Kouji Ohji. He was co-captain and manager of the Iwatobi Junior High School Swim Club, playing an instrumental role in the development of the team comprised of Haruka Nanase, Makoto Tachibana, Ikuya Kirishima and Asahi Shiina. He now lives in Tokyo, where he studies Sports Medicine at Oudoukan University and works with swimmers hoping to compete at the global level.

Appearance
Nao is tall with a slender and toned build. He has droopy lime green eyes and long, silky gray hair with bangs that dip between his eyes. He is usually seen wearing a mild expression. After graduating junior high school, he wears corrective lenses and his hair is shorter.

Personality
He is a gentle, patient, and soft-spoken individual with keen insight into the motives of others and a logical approach to life. His empathetic nature helps him motivate the students he coaches, as seen when he works with Haruka and his teammates. Nao voices his opinions in a straightforward manner, as seen when he proposes that Haruka develop a biaxial swim style in order to bring out Haruka's potential to the fullest. Nao identifies the individual obstacles for each member of the swim club in like manner, then helps each one develop for themselves a strategy to overcome them. Though kind in nature, he is a strict and somewhat scary trainer. He is a loyal friend to Natsuya Kirishima.

History
Nao is a third-year at Iwatobi Junior High School when Makoto and Haruka enter as first-years. He is the co-captain and manager of the school's swimming club and president of the library committee, as revealed in the light novel. In High☆Speed！the movie －Free! Starting Days－ it is revealed that he goes through an eye surgery to correct a retinal detachment disorder. Even after surgery, he can not swim for more than fifteen minutes due to the pressure put upon his regenerating eyes. Temporarily unable to swim, his tolerant nature allows him to channel his frustration into coaching and solidifies his career choice of sports medicine.

In Free! The Movie -Take Your Marks-, Natsuya tells the junior high team that he doesn't swim due to said injury, adding that he wishes they could swim swim together again, someday, but must wait until Nao is medically permitted to do so. Nao goes on to attend Soufukan High School, graduating and moving to Tokyo, where he studies at Oudoukan University. In an ironic twist, he is the previous owner of the apartment in which Haruka currently lives and becomes a catalyst in Makoto's own career path of professional training/coaching.

Story

 * Main article: Nao Serizawa/Story

Trivia

 * His motif animal is a northern gannett.undefined
 * His favorite foods are extra spicy noodle soup and mustard lotus. He dislikes bitter melon.
 * His strong subjects are English and math, although he is good at all his subjects.
 * He keeps tropical fish in an aquarium at home and one of his hobbies is looking after them. The other one is watching movies/documentaries with Natsuya.
 * Before getting into swimming, he was into Aikido (a form of martial arts).
 * He is the former coach of Misaki Kuramoto in Free! The Movie -Take Your Marks-.
 * Because he and Haruka are both on the library committee at school, they spend considerable time together, leading Haruka to confide in him.
 * At a staff talk event for Free!–the Final Stroke–, one of the character designers discussed the main characters' body types in terms of musculature. Nao was listed as being "type 1:" which is the most basic/lean muscle type amongst the swimmers.
 * Those born under Virgo are loyal, kind and hardworking, but can also be critical and a worrier. They like healthy living and nature, and dislike rudeness and taking center stage. Those born on Aug 27 have great inner strength and ability to deal with people but must learn to stay grounded in themselves. Traits are affected by the position of the moon and other planets at the time of birth.