Luka Mijatovic Lowers 13-14 National Age Group Records in 500 and 1000 Freestyle
Over the past eight months, 14-year-old Luka Mijatovic has been on a record-breaking tear in the longer freestyle events. He currently owns seven National Age Group marks in the 13-14 age group, with marks in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500-meter free in long course plus the 500, 1000 and 1650-yard free in short course. And this weekend, he took down two of his own records at a low-profile local meet.
At the Pleasanton Seahawks Short Course Senior Open, Mijatovic crushed his own 1000 free record by almost four seconds, swimming a time of 8:55.41. He was already the only swimmer his age to ever break 9:00 in the event, having broken Matthew Hirschberger’s previous NAG record (which had stood for 10 years) since March.
Two days later, Mijatovic recorded a blazing mark of 4:17.07 in the 500 free to lob more than five seconds off his previous NAG mark of 4:22.50, which in turn was two-and-a-half seconds under the previous NAG mark.
That 500 free time puts Mijatovic within two seconds of the NAG mark in the 15-16 age group, which belongs to Drew Kibler at 4:15.36. The only 16-and-under swimmers to ever eclipse Mijatovic’s time are Kibler, Hirschberger, Sean Grieshop, Maximus Williamson, Jake Magahey and Trey Freeman. In the 1000 free, Mijatovic’s latest performance would rank him ninth all-time in the 15-16 age group, and given his recent stunning performances, it would be no surprise if Mijatovic can eclipse those records within the next two years.