Lanihei Connolly, born on 30 December 2005 on Mauke, is a Cook Islands breaststroke swimmer and the country’s only swimmer at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
She is of Cook Islands, Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui descent. Her mother represented the Cook Islands in athletics, and her cousin Zachary Payne swam the men’s 50 m freestyle for the Cook Islands at the London 2012 Olympics; she has named him as the reason she wanted to follow that path. She began racing at the Canadian International School in Singapore, later attended Baradene College of the Sacred Heart in Auckland, and is a biomedical science student at Bond University on the Gold Coast under a World Aquatics scholarship, coached by Xander Hey.
She specialises in breaststroke and holds Cook Islands records in the 50 m (31.41), 100 m (1:07.40) and 200 m (2:29.87), all set at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, plus the 50 m butterfly (28.04, Oceania Championships 2026).
