Team Cook Islands built on a successful first day of the 2025 Pacific Mini Games in Palau with more medals on day two of the regional event on Tuesday (local time).

On day one, no fewer than seven new personal bests were set and four medals won. This was followed by a solid performance on day two in front of a jubilant travelling support of teammates and coaches. 

Encouraged on by the beating drum brought poolside, swimmers Jacob Story and Mia Laban rose to the occasion continuing their medal-filled start with three more accolades between them.

Story, who won gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke on Monday, was one to watch out for, according to his coach Horst Miehe,

“Jacob would be the one that we’ve got the highest hopes for,” he said in the lead up to the meet.

The 18-year-old showed no signs of feeling the pressure from that recognition. He is an experienced swimmer despite his young age with previous World Swimming Championships already under his belt including Budapest last December.

His performance in the gruelling Men’s 400m Individual Medley was testament to that experience. He led for the entire race until the final turn where he was pipped in the final 20 metres to take silver despite giving it everything with a time of 4:27.01. His fourth medal of the Games so far came in the 50m Breaststroke with a 29.09 to claim bronze. On Monday, Story claimed silver in the 100m individual medley event, just 0.83 seconds shy of back-to-back gold medals.

Cook Islands swimmer Alicia Story nearly followed in the 400m Freestyle qualifying for the evening’s finals third fastest. In the final, the 16-year-old swam well to finish fifth.

Mia Laban added a bronze to her tally in the 100m Butterfly, finishing in 1:03.51.

Not only was she delighted with her time, but also attests to the support from friends and family back home and poolside as the reasons for her success.

“Really happy. I swam three seconds quicker from this morning’s heats which is pretty surprising, so I’m really happy with that. Today my country brought the drums … thank you for being there for me, especially my mum. I wouldn’t be here without her because she did all the fundraising for me,” Laban said on Tuesday.

She earned Team Cook Islands’ first medal with a bronze in the 50m Backstroke on Monday followed by a silver medal 100m Individual Medley event.

In total, as of last night, Team Cook Islands has won seven medals – one gold, three silver and three bronze medals.

- The Reporters’ Academy