[2][3][4] Although he played basketball for a top Israeli junior team, a knee injury that he suffered at 11 years of age led him to shift his focus to swimming.

In July 2007, he won a silver medal at the European Junior Swimming Championships in the 200 m freestyle (1.50.36), in Antwerp, Belgium.

[12][13] In March 2008, he swam on the team that set a new Israeli record in the 4×200 meter freestyle relay, at 7:20.87, at the 2008 European Championships in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

[14] In July 2008, he set a new Israeli record in the 200 meter freestyle, at 1:48.76 at the Croatian Open Championships in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

[18] In August 2009, he won gold medals in the 50 m (22.75; surpassing the 14-year-old former record of 22.79), 100 m (49.49), 200 m (1:49.36), and 400 m freestyle races at the Israeli Summer National Championships at Wingate Institute in Netanya.

[29][30] He won a silver medal in the 100 m freestyle (49.02; behind Jason Lezak, and a new Israeli record) at the July 2009 Maccabiah Games.

After starting AquaSwimClub with only $480 and turning it into a successful 7-location business, Shapira began to focus more on the swim school side of the industry.

Shapira has recently begun his journey as a franchisor with AQUAfin Swim School's first franchise location opening in August 2022 in Orange City, FL.