NHK announced last week that it will present the anime/documentary series Eikō Naki Tensai-tachi Kara no Monogatari (Stories From "Geniuses Without Glory") about athletes, beginning with the first episode on swimming. The first episode will air on BS1 on March 25 from 8:00 p.m. to 8:49 p.m.

The first episode adapts material from Tomoyoshi Itō and Shingo Morita's Weekly Young Jump biographical manga Eikō Naki Tensai-tachi (Geniuses Without Glory) — specifically the story about Hironoshin Furuhashi, the swimmer also known as "the flying fish of Fujiyama." Daisuke Ono is voicing Furuhashi in the anime. Katsuyuki Konishi and Taketora also voice characters in the anime.

The episode also includes interviews with Olympic swimmer Kōsuke Kitajima and other Japanese swimmers about the how Furuhashi changed the Japanese competitive swimming world, as well as what sort of training is required to be an Olympic swimmer.

J.C. Staff is handling animation production for the anime. The second episode, which will tackle track and field, will air in May.

[Via Otasuke]