Makai Swim Team provides a positive, progressive pathway for swimmers to grow from their first introduction to team swimming into confident competitive athletes in the pool and, as they advance, the open water.

Our program is built around the whole athlete. Group placement considers swimming ability, age, technique, confidence, maturity, physical development, training ability, and readiness. This allows each swimmer to train in an environment where they can be appropriately challenged while developing strong technique, confidence, sportsmanship, and a lasting love for swimming.

Teams

Manini

Intro Team

Manini is the first step into Makai Swim Team and is designed for swimmers transitioning from swim lessons into a team environment.

Practices introduce swimmers to the fundamentals of team swimming while developing independence and confidence in the water. Swimmers work on freestyle and backstroke foundations, kicking, body position, streamlines, lane etiquette, and learning how to participate in a structured practice.

The Manini environment is intentionally encouraging, engaging, and age-appropriate, giving our newest swimmers an exciting first experience as part of a swim team.

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Humu

Foundational Team

Humu is for swimmers who are ready to build upon their foundational swimming skills and become increasingly independent within a structured team practice.

Athletes continue developing freestyle and backstroke while being introduced to additional competitive strokes and skills. Practices emphasize technique, kicking, body position, streamlines, turns, and completing short structured sets.

Humu helps swimmers develop the technical foundation, confidence, and practice skills needed to progress into Makai’s developmental groups.

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Honu Younger

Developmental Team

Honu Younger is designed for younger swimmers who are ready for increased swimming and more structured training while continuing to learn in an environment appropriate for their age and development.

Athletes develop all four competitive strokes while working on kicking, streamlines, turns, endurance, and foundational training skills. Practices gradually introduce longer sets while maintaining a strong emphasis on technique, confidence, and positive athlete development.

Honu Younger allows swimmers to develop alongside athletes at a similar age and stage while building the skills and confidence needed for the next steps in the Makai pathway.

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Honu Older

Developmental Competitive Team

Honu Older is designed for older developing swimmers who are ready to begin transitioning into competitive swimming while continuing to strengthen their technical foundation.

Athletes develop all four competitive strokes, starts, turns, streamlines, kicking, endurance, and increasingly structured training skills. Race preparation is introduced in a supportive environment where individual progress, confidence, and quality technique are emphasized over results.

Honu Older swimmers have opportunities to compete in unsanctioned meets throughout the seasonand work toward participating in a sanctioned meet at the end of the summer season.

The group also includes a transitioning practice designed to gradually introduce swimmers to increased training expectations as they prepare to progress toward Mantaray.

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Mantaray

Intermediate Competitive Team

Mantaray is Makai’s intermediate competitive training group for swimmers ready for increased training volume, advanced skill development, and regular competition.

 Athletes refine all four competitive strokes while developing starts, turns, underwater skills, pacing, endurance, race strategy, and the ability to complete increasingly challenging training sets.

Mantaray swimmers compete in both unsanctioned and sanctioned meets, giving athletes opportunities to gain racing experience, establish official times, set individual goals, and continue progressing toward Makai’s advanced competitive groups.

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Mako

Advanced Competitive Team • Pool + Ocean

Mako is Makai’s highest-level competitive training group currently offered and is designed for experienced swimmers ready for advanced training and competition.

Athletes focus on advanced stroke technique, conditioning, pacing, race strategy, starts, turns, underwater skills, and developing the physical and mental skills necessary for higher-level competition.

Mako swimmers compete in both sanctioned and unsanctioned pool meets, with training designed to help athletes pursue increasingly challenging individual competitive goals and qualifying standards.

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Ocean & Open Water Training

Mako athletes will also participate in a dedicated dryland and gym training program designed to complement their swimming and support their development as well-rounded competitive athletes.

Training will be led by a professional performance trainer with experience providing dryland and gym training to Olympic swimmers, bringing high-level strength and conditioning experience into an age-appropriate program for Makai athletes.

Sessions will focus on strength, mobility, stability, coordination, core strength, movement quality, and injury prevention, with training designed specifically to complement the physical demands of competitive swimming.

As athletes progress, dryland training will become an increasingly important component of their overall development, injury prevention, and preparation for higher levels of pool and open water competition.

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🏋️ Mantaray & Mako Dryland + Gym Training

Mantaray and Mako athletes also participate in a dedicated dryland and gym training program designed to complement their swimming and support their development as well-rounded competitive athletes.

Training is led by a professional performance trainer with experience providing dryland and gym training to Olympic swimmers, bringing high-level strength and conditioning experience into an age-appropriate program for Makai athletes.

The program supports overall athletic development, performance, and long-term progression alongside their training in the water.

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Developing the Whole Athlete

Sports & Performance Psychology

At Makai, we believe developing a successful athlete means training more than the body. Mental skills and positive athlete development are incorporated throughout the Makai program alongside technical and physical training.

Beginning with our youngest swimmers, coaches help athletes develop confidence, resilience, positive self-talk, focus, emotional regulation, goal-setting, and a healthy response to mistakes and challenges.

As swimmers progress into competitive groups, mental performance skills become increasingly integrated into training and competition. Athletes learn strategies for managing pre-race nerves, maintaining focus under pressure, setting meaningful goals, responding constructively to disappointing swims, building confidence, and developing a healthy competitive mindset.

Our goal is not simply to develop faster swimmers. We want to develop athletes who understand how to learn, how to compete, how to handle adversity, and how to maintain a healthy relationship with their sport.

Winning, times, cuts, and competitive achievement matter—but they are part of a much larger athlete-development process.

At Makai, we want swimmers to leave the program with mental skills and confidence that extend far beyond the pool.

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Growing With Our Athletes

Makai Swim Team is designed to grow alongside our swimmers.

As our team develops and athletes progress to higher levels of competition, additional training groups will be introduced to ensure swimmers continue to have an appropriate pathway within Makai.

Future groups may include dedicated training opportunities for athletes pursuing Junior Olympic, Senior, Sectional, and other championship qualifying standards, with increased training expectations and competition opportunities appropriate to each level.

Our goal is to create a program where athletes can begin their journey with Makai and continue growing with us—from their first team practice to championship-level competition and beyond.

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Our Approach to Group Placement

Progression through Makai is not based on speed alone.

 Swimming ability, technique, age, training ability, maturity, confidence, physical development, attendance, and competitive readiness may all be considered when determining the practice environment where an athlete will be most successful.

The Honu age-based structure allows younger and older developing swimmers to train alongside athletes at similar stages of development without labeling swimmers as “fast” or “slow.”

Movement between groups is determined by the coaching staff based on what will best support each athlete’s continued development.

Every Makai group represents an important stage of the swimmer’s journey. Whether an athlete is attending their first Manini practice, entering their first race with Honu, pursuing sanctioned competition with Mantaray, racing in the ocean with Mako, or someday working toward championship qualifying standards, there is always another opportunity to learn, grow, and challenge themselves.