Rei Ryugazaki

Rei Ryugazaki (竜ヶ崎 怜, Ryūgazaki Rei) is one of the main characters of the anime series, Free!. He is a freshman who joins the track team, but later joins the Iwatobi High School swimming team as their butterfly swimmer.

Appearance
Rei is a tall young man with short, deep blue hair and purple eyes. He wears red-framed glasses.

Personality
Rei is considered handsome and intelligent because of his looks and good grades. He also has a penchant for beautiful things and the thought of exuding anything but beauty through his actions, causes him to dramatically lose his cool.

Rei may initially seem like a calm and composed character, but he is in actuality quite comical in a sense that he sometimes lets his confidence get the better of him. He is however, depicted to be a hardworking and determined individual, unwilling to relent to his inability to swim despite several failed attempts.

Rei has a theoretical approach when it comes to sports, as he usually calculates distance, angle, and other factors in his mind before actually making an attempt. Because of his rigid nature, he has a tendency to overlook the fun and enjoyment that comes with the activity. As Haruka told Rei, he needed to be "free" in order to swim properly, because he's constantly calculating and underestimating the water.

Theoretical Dolphin Kick!
Rei was initially in the school's track team, but was constantly pestered by Nagisa to become the vital fourth member of their newly-founded swim club after Nagisa found out that Rei had a feminine name and believed it to be fate (since the other swim club members have feminine names, too). After realizing not all activities were based off calculations and seeing Haruka swimming beautifully, he eventually accepted the offer.

Captive Butterfly!
While training for the upcoming tournament, the Iwatobi Swim Club saw that Rei was able to float in water and his form was perfect. Though said, he couldn't move while performing the needed actions for different strokes, and constantly sank to the bottom of the pool when trying. Gou gave him a week to learn how to swim, with every member teaching him their specific strokes, but always failing. It was until Rei sat with Haruka and talked about just diving in freely did he find out that the butterfly stroke was the one he could perfect, since it was the only stroke he hadn't tried during his training.

Trial in Open Water!
On the day of the trip to the summer training camp, Sasabe takes the Swim Club to the island where they coincidentally discover the Samezuka Swim Club, along with Rin, training at a special swimming facility on the island. After the guys get settled on the beach they begin their stamina training regiment which involves making three long-distance swimming circuits between the deserted islands of Sukishima, Oshima, and Mizushima. At the end of the first day, the club only manages swimming half of their goal, leaving Rei to feel a bit disappointed for lagging behind. That night, unable to sleep due to his performance, Rei heads into the ocean to continue training when a sudden storm takes him by surprise. Makoto awakens at that moment and goes looking for Rei, frantically diving to his aid upon hearing Rei's cries for help.

Nagisa Hazuki
Rei often gets manipulated by Nagisa for some reason.

Trivia

 * Like all members of the Iwatobi High School Swimming Club, Rei has a female name.
 * During a field trip in fifth grade, Rei accidentally left his underwear in the bath.

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Rei Ryugazaki