|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Luka Mijatovic was certainly well-known in the junior swimming world by virtue of success in both national and international competitions.
The incoming junior at Foothill High recently won two more CIF State championships, taking the 200 and 500 freestyle races at the state meet in mid-May.
Despite all the success for Mijatovic, who swims for the Pleasanton Seahawks, the moment he became known on the senior level had not yet arrived.
It has now.
Following the conclusion of the 2025 Toyota National Championships in Indianapolis on Saturday, Mijatovic is not only known – by virtue of a second place in the 400 free, he has earned a spot on the United States Senior Team for the 2025 World Aquatics Championship July 11 to Aug. 3 in Singapore.
“I didn’t put any pressure on myself,” Mijatovic said. “I just wanted to qualify for Junior World’s. That was truly my goal.”
He’s not lying. The two times I have talked with him recently, he was adamant the goal was to qualify for Juniors. Both times I dangled Senior World’s at him, he wouldn’t admit to thinking about it.
Mijatovic – he turned 16 on April 22 – is the youngest American swimmer to compete in World’s since Michael Phelps in 2001.
The big moment came last Thursday night in the 400-meter free, Mijatovic’s third day competing, when his biggest swim came.
He had already swum two events and made the finals in both, taking some of the pressure off, which certainly helped on the mental side.
“I was having fun and trying not to think about anything else or my nerves would take over,” Mijatovic said. “Having already swam in two finals also helped with the nerves.”
During the 400 trials, Mijatovic qualified first for the finals with a time of 3:45.89. In the finals, swimming against NCAA champion Rex Mauer, Mijatovic finished second to Mauer, with a 3:47.71 to Mauer’s 3:43.33.
Mauer celebrated after touching the wall, but so did Milatovic, fist-pumping the water after seeing he was second and bringing a spot at World’s a possible reality.
“After qualifying first, it meant I would have a real shot of making the World’s team in the finals,” Mijatovic said. “I was just trying to stay as close as possible to Rex and get my hand on the wall right behind him.
They had to wait until after the meet ended Saturday night to make it official that Mijatovic made the team due to roster limitations.
But the 400 was far from the lone accomplishment Mijatovic had during the meet.
He set national age group records in the 200 and 400 freestyle for the 15-16 age group. In the 200, he also swam faster than Phelps’ mark in the 17-18 age group but due to the fact he is not in the group it doesn’t go down as the record-holder.
He made the A final in all four of his events.
In the 200 he qualified fourth, then proceeded to finish eighth in the A finals. In the 400 individual medley, he was eighth qualifying and then went out and finished fifth with a 4:16.75.
Day three was the 400 and his qualifying mark of 3:45.89 set the age group record. His time is the second best of all time, with the legendary Ian Thorpe of Australia being the only one that has gone faster in that age group.
Finally on the final day in the 800, he was fourth with a mark of 7:53.80.
Pleasanton Seahawks
Mijatovic was hardly the only Seahawk swimmer to have a good week.
Tim Wu (Dougherty Valley) and Libby Clark both qualified for the Junior World Team, with recent SoCal transplant Teagan O’Dell making the World University Games.
Brooke Bennett (Granada), Lilly Caples (Amador Valley) and Daniela Lineras Danzos (San Ramon Valley) all swam well in their events.
“It was a very strong week for the Seahawks,” Seahawks coach Steve Morsilli said. “We are very proud of their performances.”
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
Castlewood homeowners discuss where things stand with county following lawsuitJanuary 27, 2026 5:58 am