U.S. Nationals: Luka Mijatovic Annihilates 15-16 NAG Record in 200 Free, Chasing Worlds Spot
While he has been shattering National Age Group records in the 15-16 age group the past two years and for 13-14 boys before that, Luka Mijatovic seemed to be a year or two away from breaking onto the senior national team. His highest finish at last year’s Olympic Trials was 12th in the 400 freestyle, and after winning gold in the eight-lap at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships last August, reaching finals in the longer distance events seemed like a reasonable goal for this year’s Nationals.
Well, Mijatovic took care of that obstacle in his opening swim of the meet. The final heat of the men’s 200 free included Olympic bronze medalist and short course world champion Luke Hobson as well as Olympians Shaine Casas and Brooks Curry and accomplished collegians Rex Maurer and Gabriel Jett. Mijatovic sat in seventh place through 150 meters, but he covered the final length in 26.63, faster than anyone else in the event. He picked off his competitors on the way to a fourth-place finish in the heat and the fourth-best time of the morning.
Mijatovic clocked 1:45.92, wrecking his previous best time of 1:47.96 by more than two seconds. He also blasted through the 15-16 National Age Group record, knocking 1.37 seconds from the previous top time of 1:47.29 posted by Maximus Williamson in 2023, and the mark is ahead of the 17-18 record of 1:45.99, which belongs to Michael Phelps.
Seeded 19th entering the meet, Mijatovic now finds himself within range of a World Championships appearance. The top-four finishers in the 200 free final automatically qualify for the global meet for relay purposes, with the fifth and sixth-place swimmers potentially making the cut depending on available roster spots later in the week.
The task at hand in the 200 free is far from complete, with seven of the eight swimmers in the heat having broken 1:46 in their career. Four of the top-six qualifiers swam best times in prelims while the other four are all Olympians, having taken part in the silver-medal-winning 800 free relay in Paris. But even if he comes up short in this final, Mijatovic has chances remaining to reach Worlds in the remaining longer freestyle events.
If he has improved two seconds in the 200 free, could he drop three or even four seconds over 400 meters? Doing so would put Mijatovic around 3:45, and note that the top-seeded time entering the meet belongs to Aaron Shackell at 3:45.45. He is also seeded to swim in the final heat of the 800 free, with an entry time less than seven seconds away from second-seeded David Johnston.
With the 200 final and two further races to come, this initial NAG record could be just the beginning of a breakout meet for Mijatovic.
