S1E12 Distant Free!

Distant Free! (遥かなるフリー！ Harukanaru Furī!) is the twelfth and final episode of the season one of the Free! anime series. It aired on September 25, 2013.

Synopsis
Rin becomes so distracted by being taken off the relay team that he ends up placing terribly in his 100m event. After Rin runs off in an outburst, telling Aiichiro that he will quit swimming, Haruka and the others overhear Rin say he was taken out of the relay, which comes as a shock to Haruka. It is at this point that Rei tells everyone about what Rin told him the previous night, stating his belief that what Rin wanted wasn't to win, but to swim with everyone again.

With the relay preliminaries approaching fast, the gang splits up in search of Rin, who is eventually found by Haruka. Initially struggling to hear Haruka out, Rin spots a phrase Haruka had written in the sand in front of a tree, "For the Team", which reminds him of his elementary school days and gets him to show his true feelings.

Making it just in time for the preliminaries, Rei lets Rin take his place in the relay, allowing him to finally swim with his friends. Although the Iwatobi team is inevitably disqualified for their unapproved roster change despite placing first, they feel proud in doing what they thought was the right thing, whilst Rin is encouraged by Seijuro to swim the way he did for their own team.

Afterwards, Iwatobi and Samezuka begin joint training, where Rin and Haruka state their own dreams. It is shown that the relationship between Rin and the Iwatobi Swim Club, especially Haruka, has improved greatly. The series ends with a message "See you next summer!"

Characters
List of characters in order of appearance: