Following yesterday’s success in the pool for Cook Islands at the 22nd World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Singapore, Lanihei Connolly continues with an international top performance in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke.
Lanihei stepped up to lane 0 in heat 3 of this fast race, with a strong focus “I was in the outside lane just by myself, just focusing on my own thing”. She started the race strong with a solid reaction time of 0.68. At the half way mark Lanihei was in the lead position demonstrating an incredibly fast start – her first lap coming in at 31.41. With this outstanding start it was clear Lanihei had one goal in mind.
Winner of her heat, Lanihei’s final time was 1:07.40, a personal best and new national record for the Cook Islands. Reflecting on the race Lanihei shared “it was so good, it felt so fun…a big PB, I was really happy. That was my goal time”. Spurred on by roaring full stands, there was especially strong support for Lanihei with her parents in the crowd, proudly waving the flag for the Cook Islands – there was pride from the island, taking home such a great result at this international stage – reflecting on the magnitude of such a competition she shares – ‘It’s so special. My family back home are so proud of me and I think it’s so cool to represent such a small country and so cool to win my heat. I tried to show the flag but I got the wrong side!’
This superb time is a result of great dedication from Lanihei and support from her training centre in Australia. “I’ve been fortunate enough to get a World Aquatic Scholarship, so I’m at Bond University. My coach Xander Hey has really put in a lot of time and effort with me and before this year I hadn’t even gone under 110. So that’s so much progression, I’m just so grateful”. This scholarship and support from her country have meant such great things for this race. Entering this distance has changed things for Lanihei, she shares her progress at being part of such a great training programme,”I used to never do 200s so now my endurance is up. Rates; I never knew what they were before I came to Bond. So really, I used to overspin and waste my energy. So I really learned how to race smart”. Combining this and the “additional support with Horst who’s the Cook Island coach” has been a sure fire winning formula.
In addition to her training, her experience in competition and from last year’s World Aquatics Swimming Championships short course event in Budapest have helped her achieve her aspirations “I’d say I still definitely get nervous, but the experience has helped. I’ve been swimming for the Cook Islands since 2022. This is my second Worlds so it’s really good to get more experience and get used to knowing that nerves are natural and they’re only going to help”.
Lanihei dedicates her race to the late Romani Katoa, a proud supporter of Cook Islands and Oceania Aquatics – “he provided so many opportunities for myself and so many other people” Romani was the first ever Pacific islander to be in a World-at-Large position on the World Aquatics Bureau. His Oceania colleagues were keen to share how he loved life to the fullest and always advocated for the islands and the athletes.
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Written by The Reporters Academy