In His Father's Footsteps
Matsuoka Rin lives a haunted existence. However his ghosts are self-created. Although his memories of his father are fuzzy, like looking at a bathroom mirror after a hot shower, he manages to convince himself that the key to remembering lies in achieving his father's dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer. He dedicates his life to following this path with steadfast resolve.
As a young boy, Rin pours over an old photo album filled with pictures of his father at swim meets and looks through boxes filled with medals and trophies. In the eyes of a child, the accolades seem grand, shiny, and unobtainable. He sneaks into his parents' room as often as possible to unearth his father's hidden treasures. Holding the awards in his tiny hands, he wonders if someday he will be able to accomplish the same degree of success.
Like many impressionable, young sons, he wants to be just like his father, so he learns to swim. His father praises his effort; the warmth in that proud voice remains emblazoned in Rin's mind. However after his father's death, his father's face fades from his memories as if someone has taken an eraser to remove that specific detail from his recollection.
When he joins the Iwatobi Swimming Club as an elementary school student, he plans on mimicking the father he can no longer clearly remember.
"Ah, that's a picture of your dad when he was younger," his mother tells him on his first visit, pointing to a photo hanging on the wall.
Rin's eyes focus on the picture as he commits the image of the spiky-haired boy to memory. The joy on his father's face brings a smile to his lips. He makes sure to pass by that photo during every practice. Sometimes he allows himself to imagine that his father's childhood spirit remains at the pool and that they are friends. These visualizations comfort him, and he soon decides that he will follow in his father's footsteps. To do that, he must find teammates to call his own and win a relay.
His mother gets especially nostalgic when she takes him to and from swim club practice. One day she says, "Your father wanted to be an Olympic swimmer." Moisture glistens in her eyes at the recollection.
Like a dutiful son, Rin decides to realize the dream his father never had the opportunity to achieve. When he looks into the requirements of becoming an Olympic swimmer, his attitude starts changing. Although he can still appreciate the skills of his team members (Haru in particular), he can no longer relate to their naïve view of swimming for fun. Rin concentrates on practice, times, and competition as he continues straight towards his father's dream.
Rin's determination to become an Olympic swimmer is so strong that going abroad to train seems like the natural thing to do. While visiting home during winter break his first year in middle school, he gets the opportunity to test his skills against Haru's. When he loses their impromptu race, Rin falters and begins to doubt everything he has believed in. The path he has laid out for himself breaks in his mind, and he in turn breaks in front of Haru.
Disappointed, frustrated tears flow from Rin's eyes against his will. What are all of his efforts worth, if he can't even beat one boy who doesn't care about competitive swimming? Haru looks like he wants to say something comforting, which only makes the situation worse.
He only manages to gain control of his emotions by telling himself that he has never seen any pictures of his father crying when swimming was involved. A steely look replaces tears as he vows never to cry over swimming again. 'If I have time to cry, then I have time to train,' he tells himself.
During his remaining years in Australia, Rin reaffirms his purpose and trains as hard as his body will let him. His objective remains the same, becoming an Olympic swimmer, but his loss against Haru continues to eat at his psyche. Soon, he begins to think of his old friend as a hurdle he must overcome to truly get back onto the route he has spent his entire youth following.
Once he returns to Japan, he continues to push himself in hopes of achieving his father's childhood dream, which he has claimed as his own. Surely if he accomplishes this feat, he will be able remember his father's face and not just all of those promises made to a grave.
Author's notes: I'm not usually the type to write a reactionary piece, but episode 7 totally had my wheels spinning. Rin's words to Haru may have been a bit harsh at the end, but I think he has his reasons. Plus, Miyano Mamoru, Rin's CV, has been my favorite seiyuu for quite some time, so I'm pretty much programmed to like all of his characters. Ahh, Rin, my heart breaks for you.
I hope this interpretation makes sense in light of the not-so-concrete details we've been given. I hope you all enjoyed. As always, feedback is much appreciated.