As swimmer Rikako Ikee underwent treatment for leukemia, Mizuno Corp. employee Shinnosuke Fujita worried that she might not want to continue being the face of his company.

Mizuno staffers wondered, too, if the company should keep using Ikee in their advertisements, expecting mixed reactions from the public.

“What do you want to do?” a grim Fujita asked her in summer 2019, concerned that continuing might put more pressure on her to make a quick comeback.

Ikee paused for a moment, and said: “I will be back, I promise. Please do not drop me from the (advertisements).”

She said that in no uncertain terms, Fujita recalled. He knew then how serious the world-class swimmer was about returning to the pool.

Ikee kept her promise in an inspiring and remarkable comeback that culminated in winning the 100-meter butterfly at Japan's national championships on April 4.

Fujita, 45, who has known Ikee since she was a 15-year-old swimming sensation, wasn't surprised. 

Before the national championship started, he anticipated Ikee producing something great. 

“I’m sure she will once again accomplish more than we ever envisioned,” Fujita said at the time.

ANNOUNCEMENT SHOCKED A NATION

When he started working with a young Ikee, it marked the first time the sports clothing and equipment maker had signed a sponsorship deal with a junior high school swimmer.

Fujita has since witnessed up close Ikee growing to become an irreplaceable poster girl in the world of competitive swimming.

Fearless Ikee set one national record after another in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. At the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Ikee won six gold medals.

Fujita was always there to support her and said he was constantly amazed at her spectacular performances and achievements.

But she never lost her genuine concern for others, Fujita said.

When he offered to take a picture of her at a party to celebrate her victory, she would invite him to join in the photo with her, saying, “Let’s take a picture together.”

Everybody expected Ikee to be the star and a showcase athlete of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

But that all changed suddenly in February 2019 when Ikee was diagnosed with leukemia, which she announced on her Twitter account.

Instead of being in the water training for the Olympics, she was forced to spend days and nights in a sterilized room.

“It is harder than I thought, tens of times harder, hundreds of times, thousands of times harder,” Ikee wrote on Twitter. “I haven’t eaten anything for more than three days.

“But I refuse to lose,” she wrote.

RETURN TO THE POOL

In December 2019, Ikee was released from the hospital.

The 10-month stay in the hospital took a harsh toll on her once powerful body. 

There was a monkey bar in a living room at her home, which she used to play on all the time when she was little.

Now she could not even hang from the bars and move forward.

She was also hesitant to have her frail body seen by others.

But the following month after her release from the hospital, Ikee attended a Mizuno trade show.

Mizuno employees lined up to welcome her, which touched her deeply. Fujita, too, was moved to tears by the sight.

Fujita was also there when Ikee returned to a pool and jumped into the water for the first time in 406 days.

“I cannot express how I feel in words, but I am so happy. It feels so great,” she said.

Fujita was elated to see how joyously happy Ikee was to just be back in a pool.

In August 2020, she swam in competition for the first time in 19 months.

In February this year, she won a 50-meter butterfly race in Tokyo. It was her fifth race after her comeback.

Ikee, now 20, then entered the Japanese national championships that kicked off on April 3, an Olympic qualifying event.

Since she was released from the hospital, Ikee has repeatedly said her goal is competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

She even admitted that after the diagnosis she “found myself relieved, feeling free from the pressure, that I will not have to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.”

JUST HAPPY TO BE BACK

When she entered the Tokyo Aquatics Center, the Olympic venue, on April 4 for the 100-meter butterfly final, Ikee muttered, “I’m back.”

She said she did not feel much pressure.

Ikee said she told herself before the race, “I will be happy that I’m here today, regardless of the outcome.”

Ikee defied everybody’s expectations including her own. 

Ikee won the race and earned a ticket to the Tokyo Games, which she had once given up on. 

“I thought I would have a long way to go to be able to win,” a tearful Ikee said after the final. 

“Now I know that no matter how painful and grueling things get, (my) efforts will be inevitably rewarded,” she said.

“I am so happy right now,” Ikee said in a trembling voice.

She wasn't alone.