SETO Daiya

General
SUSPENSION
In October 2020 he was suspended for the remainder of the year by the Japan Swimming Federation after he was found to have had an extramarital affair. The offence was judged to have breached the governing body's standard of sportsmanlike conduct. He also resigned as captain of the Japanese national swimming team and from his role as a symbol athlete for the Japanese Olympic Committee [JOC]. "I think my apology is to continue swimming, restoring the trust of my family, who have been deeply hurt by my irresponsible behaviour. I would like to seriously face swimming with the determination to start over so that my family and everyone will recognise me as a swimmer again." (nhk.or.jp, 14 Oct 2020; bbc.com, 14 Oct 2020; dailyshincho.jp, 23 Sep 2020; nhk.or.jp, 30 Sep 2020; japantimes.co.jp, 14 Oct 2020)

DENTAL BRACES
He began wearing a mouth guard for braces to straighten his teeth in 2018. He says the braces help him to use his strength more smoothly while swimming. "I usually felt pain in my neck when I started a race. Therefore I began wearing braces in order to prevent it." (number.bunshun.jp, 31 Mar 2019)

He became the first swimmer representing Japan to successfully defend his world long course title when he followed up his victory in the 400m individual medley at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, with a win in the same event at the 2015 edition of the tournament in Kazan, Russian Federation. (joc.or.jp, 10 Aug 2015; SportsDeskOnline, 09 Aug 2015)