Albert Volandel

Albert Volandel (アルベルト・ヴォーランデル Aruberuto・Vooranderu) is a main character in the anime series Free! beginning with Free!-Dive to the Future-. He is a swimmer from Sweden and is the current world's record holder in both the 100m and 200m freestyle events. His nickname is "The Odin of the Swim World."

Appearance
Albert is a tall, slender but muscular Swedish man with light blond hair swept to the left side of his face, with one eye hidden behind his hair. He has purple eyes and pale eyelashes.

Personality
He is a powerful swimmer who takes competition in stride, even proclaiming it to be fun. He seems to genuinely enjoy competing and seeing the world by taking in the local color of cities that he visits. He is also an arcade video game enthusiast and stays cool in that arena, as well, as seen when he plays against Isuzu Mikoshiba, a complete stranger at the time, and wins.

He adapts to new situations quickly (e.g. eating with chopsticks) and enjoys meeting and conversing with people he meets "on the road." Sometimes, he feels confined by the strict regimen developed by coach Ralph, sneaking off to be by himself and on his own.

He's a friendly person who doesn't let speaking a different language than those he meets become a barrier to getting to know them, as seen when he meets Haruka Nanase while attending a special training camp. At the conclusion of Free!-Road to the World- the Dream, he is seen paying close attention to the remaining swimming races at the All-Japan Invitational playing on a nearby television. As he listens, he genuinely smiles as the announcer states, "Nanase, First Place."

History
Albert holds the current world record in both 100m and 200m freestyle.

Trivia

 * Albert's nickname is "The Odin of the Swim World." As a major figure in Norse mythology, Odin oversees Valhalla. He is known as the god of wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, victory, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet.
 * The music playing as background during the unofficial race in which Albert beats Haruka is similar to the theme from Netflix's Stranger Things.
 * His motif animal appears to be the blue whale.
 * His surname is alternatively written as "Wåhlander" by Funimation, but Volandel on KyoAni's official website.
 * 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. Albert was listed as being "type 6:" the most well-muscled of all the types. He is essentially an example of the perfect body for a competitive swimmer.