|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Foothill High School sophomore swimmer Luka Mijatovic is making a name for himself in the pool at the local, state and national levels. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Foothill High School sophomore swimmer Luka Mijatovic is making a name for himself in the pool at the local, state and national levels. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Luka Mijatovic dives off the blocks during Foothill’s meet at Livermore High School on March 28, 2025. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Luka Mijatovic speaks with teammates before practice. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Luka Mijatovic swims freestyle during the Foothill-Livermore meet on March 28, 2025. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Tight view of Luka Mijatovic’s backstroke. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Luka Mijatovic during swim practice in Pleasanton on March 27, 2025. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Foothill swimmer Luka Mijatovic. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Luka Mijatovic swims for Pleasanton Seahawks swim club and the Foothill High School team. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Luka Mijatovic swims for Pleasanton Seahawks swim club and the Foothill High School team. (Photo by Chuck Deckert)
Luka Mijatovic.
If you don’t know the name, you need to learn it. And if you do know the name, you fully understand why others need to familiarize themselves.
Mijatovic, 15-year-old sophomore at Foothill High School, is well-known in the USA Swimming community and could possibly be standing on the medal stand during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Intrigued? Then keep reading.
It was last spring when Mijatovic arrived on the public scene around Pleasanton and the East Bay Athletic League when, as a freshman, he captured first place in the 500-freestyle at the California Interscholastic Federation State Meet.
A freshman winning a state title in swimming-rich California. And doing it by seven seconds — a lifetime in swimming.
It’s highly unlikely.
“Obviously he is a generational talent,” said Steve Morsilli, the head of the Pleasanton Seahawks swim club and Mijatovic’s coach.
Swimming is a unique sport where the top swimmers usually compete in high school as opposed to ignoring their schools like so many other Olympic sports. Mijatovic lives in Pleasanton and attends Foothill, representing the school during the spring.
“(High school) is a lot different from club,” Mijatovic said. “The energy is a lot different. It’s such a great time hanging with my friends. They go crazy when I win a race. It’s a blast.”
Mijatovic started swimming when he was 3-1/2 years old when the family lived in Campbell.
“My parents enrolled me in water safety when I was 4, but I quit at 5 to play soccer,” explained Mijatovic.
He got back into the pool at 7 and within a couple of years it was obvious he was natural.
“By the time he was 8 or 9, we had an idea he could be pretty good,” said Mijatovic’s mom, Lana Djuric.
The family made the decision to move to Pleasanton and swim for the Seahawks and Morsilli.
Being a competitive swimmer is not for the faint of heart.
“Excellence is not convenient,” Morsilli said of the motto they use with the Seahawks. “We talk about it with the kids all the time. You have to be organized in school and life. It’s tough but if you want to be a great athlete …”
Monday is the light day of the week with practice from 3:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Then it gets crazy the rest of the week.
Mijatovic is up at 4 a.m. each day and has a bagel at 4:15 a.m. From there he is off to practice, arriving at the Dolores Bengtson Aquatic Center in Pleasanton to convert the lane lines from short-course to long-course. Then there is practice from 5-6:30 a.m.
From there it’s back home for breakfast and to get ready for school. He then is at Foothill from 8:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. as he has four classes in-person, and two online classes.
He then heads home, gets some lunch and takes a nap around 1:30 p.m. It’s then back to the pool from 3:45-5:45 p.m. From 6-7 p.m. it’s workouts out of the water like weights or other exercises.
Finally, it’s back home for dinner, and some schoolwork, then he goes to bed at 8:30 p.m. to get some sleep so he can do it all over again the next day. This is every Tuesday to Friday.
Saturdays are 5:45-7:45 a.m. High school meets take the place of the afternoon workout when they occur.
Lost in the shuffle is that with Mijatovic being only 15, he needs a ride to all the practices, and that comes in the form of his father. It’s not only the swimmers who are dedicated.
There are about 30 members on the Seahawks that follow the same training regime, one of which is Tim Wu, a Dougherty Valley High School student. Morsilli has high praise for Wu, who will be heading to the University of California, Berkeley.
“They are the top two we have and it’s not even close,” Morsilli said of Mijatovic and Wu. “They wouldn’t be who they are without each other. They push each other every day.”
Swimming at high levels is certainly not for everyone.
“We draw a timeline for the kids from 0-85,” Morsilli said of a life timeline. “We put a dot on the line for high school. High school is only a small part of life; you don’t want to look back and not have done it. Why not be the best you can now.”
There has to be some time off.
“Three weeks,” Mijatovic said of how much time off he took last year.
And what did he do with the break?
“Laid in bed and ate sweets,” Mijatovic said. “I didn’t do very much.”
All the work and effort led to the sensational freshman year.
The amazing thing about his successful Foothill season was that he was actually training through the high school season, with the United States Olympic Trials two weeks after the high school season ended. That is where the focus was at the time.
Still when he got to the high school postseason, he was just that much better.
In the North Coast Section meet, he took the 200 free and 500 free, earning automatic All-American marks in both. His time of 4:21.94 in the 500 free was 10 seconds better than second place.
That sent him to the state meet, where he was second in the 200 free by less than a second to a senior. He won the 500 with a time of 4:16.51 — seven seconds faster than second place.
Mijatovic knew he was going to do well.
“Yeah, I was looking at all the (competitors) times before state,” he said. “I was just focused on not getting DQ’d.”
Almost before he could digest the success at state, he was off to the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis. Nothing could prepare Mijatovic for that.
They built a special swimming pool in the middle of Lucas Oil Stadium, where the NFL’s Colts play.
“It was amazing and kind of scary,” Mijatovic said. “There were 50,000 people there. The pool was humongous. I got lost the first time I walked in there.”
He turned in personal bests in both the 200 and the 400 frees, and more importantly, earned a spot on the 2024-25 Junior National Team.
That led to a spot in the Pan Pacific Championship in Australia in August. He won three gold medals, taking the 200 and 400 free, and swimming a leg on the winning 4×200 free relay.
Recently Mijatovic set the swimming world on fire again with his performances from the Pacific Swimming Far Western Championships.
The meet was conducted in Pleasanton, and he went nuts, setting personal bests in every event he swam.
In the 500 and 1,650 freestyles, he set new 15-16 national age group records.
In the 500, he lowered his own mark by a second to 4:10.96. The time would have qualified for the Consolation Final in the last NCAA meet.
The 1,650 saw him clock 14:37.63, a mark that would have finished 12th in the NCAA meet.
Message boards in swimming sites have been full of amazement and praise. There is now talk about a chance of Luka earning a spot in the World Championships later this year.
But right now, it’s what is right in front of him.
The CIF meet is May 15-17 in Clovis. The NCS meet is a week earlier at the Concord Community Pool.
Two weeks after CIF, there are nationals in Indianapolis, which could lead to spots in the World Junior Championships in Romania in August.
It could also see Mijatovic earn a spot on the U.S. National Team. Not just the Junior National Team.
“At the end of the season, the fastest six in each event make the national team,” Morsilli said. “If you make the national team, you get preference to the national training center.”
And down the line, the Olympic team? The 2028 Summer Olympics are in Los Angeles.
“In the Olympics, it’s down to the top two swimmers in each event,” Morsilli said. “But if you are named to the national team, you know you are in the mix.”
Mijatovic is staying in the moment. It’s almost hard to believe he is a 15-year-old high school sophomore.
“I’m just taking things day by day and focus on doing the little things right,” Mijatovic said. “But making the team for Los Angeles would be amazing.”
