A month ago, the fandom around the "Swimming Anime" was based on an anime that wasn't real. Fans didn't care. They gave the characters identities, backstories, fan-art and more—all based on a 30 second clip! Some dismissed these efforts as ridiculous, but it seems it has paid off: the anime is now becoming a reality. Check out the new promotional video by Kyoto Animation studio above.
This was the first clip, which wasn't originally intended to promote an anime—it was just a promotional thing for the Kyoto Animation studio itself:
Unfortunately, it's not called "Swimming Anime" anymore. It's called Free. I realize that keeping it as "Swimming Anime" would be absurd, and yet absurdity seems fitting given how the anime came to be. I suspect most people will continue to call it Swimming Anime.
The official website for Free can be found here, and according to Nabe, the website stands for "Iwatobi Swimming Club."
The characters now all have official names, and eventually, will have defined characteristics. Which kind of begs the question: can the Swimming Anime be as good as it was when it wasn't real? When it wasn't real, fans could project as much as they want—which is what made it fun.