Carter Makira

Biography

Carter Kita Makira is a teenage swimmer who competes for Cook Islands across pool and open water disciplines, with a specialist focus on backstroke and individual medley. He has been involved in competitive swimming since the age of ten and comes from a family with a strong connection to Cook Islands aquatics.

Makira made his international debut at the at the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau. In the pool, he competed in the 200m backstroke final, finishing sixth with a time of 2:14.99. He also competed as the sole Cook Islands representative in the open water 5km event, recording a personal best of 1:12:29.70. Speaking after the race, he described the experience of swimming the 5km largely alone as "tiring… but enjoyable," reflecting on the discipline required to complete an event equivalent to 200 laps of a standard pool.

At the 2026 14th Oceania Swimming Championships in Fiji, Makira demonstrated his continued development across the pool, finishing sixth in both the 200m backstroke (2:15.62) and the 200m individual medley (2:15.16), reaching the final of the 50m backstroke, and competing in the 100m breaststroke B final. On the final day of competition he took to the Pacific Harbour for the open water 5km race, completing a full championship week across both disciplines.

"I was just thinking of getting to the wall as fast as I can and finishing strong, making sure I didn't spin too much and still hold my technique," Makira said of his race approach. He added that continued improvement remains his key motivation: "Getting faster motivates me in training to try harder and get faster times."

Makira's ability to perform competitively across both pool and open water settings is a rare combination at this level, and distinguishes him within the Cook Islands national programme. Competing internationally since age fourteen, he has accumulated championship experience that belies his age, and his development across multiple stroke disciplines positions him as one of the more versatile members of the national squad.

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