Mikhail Makarovich Nitori

Mikhail Makarovich Nitori (Russian: Михаил Макарович Нитори; Japanese: ミハイル・マカロービィチ・ニトリ Mihairu・Makaroobichi・Nitori) is a supporting character in the anime series Free! beginning with Free!-Dive to the Future-. He is a former competitive swimmer from Russia, but now coaches up-and-coming swimmers in whom he sees potential greatness. He currently coaches Rin Matsuoka.

Appearance
Mikhail is a relatively tall man with green eyes and short, light blond hair that curls slightly. He has a light moustache and blond goatee. He is typically seen wearing a gray jacket, purple cowlneck, dark blue jeans, and pale blue pool sandals with black socks. An unbuttoned khaki trenchcoat lay across his shoulders.

Personality
He is a friendly and talkative individual, but stubborn once he sets his mind to something, as shown when Natsuya Kirishima repeatedly asks him to be his coach and Mikhail repeatedly refuses. Similar to Gou Matsuoka, he is a huge fan of muscles and chooses who he's going to train based on whether he thinks a person has 'good' or 'bad' muscles.

History
Mikhail used to be a star of the Russian swimming world. He and Ryuji Azuma were top rivals when they were younger and still maintain a friendly rivalry as swimming coaches. He approaches Will at the Australian Swimming Club and is introduced to Rin. Impressed with the swimmer's "type" of muscles, he takes him on as an athlete.

Trivia

 * One of his hobbies is collecting muscle magazines and loves the fact that Japan has so many rare books about them.
 * He has a habit of using outdated Japanese slang, indicating that it's been a long time since he's last been there.
 * His contact name in Ryuji's phone is "Muscle Idiot" (筋肉バカ Kinniku Baka).