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It has been a given that at some point 16-year-old Foothill High junior Luka Mijatovic would be the face of distance swimming in the United States.
That day may be now.
Saturday night in the 800-meter finals on the final day of the 2025 Toyota United States Open Swimming Championships in Austin, Texas, Mijatovic fired off the blocks and never looked back, winning the race by over three seconds.
His time of 7:48.28 was the 12th fastest all-time by any American and crushed the 15-16 national age group record.
“During warmups, I felt pretty good so I wanted to take it out pretty quick on my race and try to hold on the best I can,” Mijatovic said to USA Swimming. “I knew the field was going to be pretty stacked with Bobby (Finke) and Carson (Foster) in there. I wanted to start pretty strong and continue on and build on that throughout the race.”
As the race went on, he built on the lead, never giving the rest of the field a chance.
“I tried to look around to see where I was. I saw Carson a little bit in the first 300-400; he was holding pretty good. And Ilia (Sibirtsev) next to me of course. But other than that, I was trying to focus on my own race,” Mijatovic said.
The national age group record was 23 years old.
“I didn’t know it was that old, but I did have my sights on it coming into the meet,” Mijatovic said. “I’m pretty happy with the meet. I know it’s only December and I have a lot more to prove. I’m continuing building more, training and working harder so I can get progressively better as I race.”
Mijatovic, who announced recently that he will swim for national powerhouse Texas in college, was second in the 400 freestyle and the 400 individual medley. He was fourth in the “B” final in the 200 freestyle.
In the “A” final of the 400 free, Mijatovic was mid-pack until late in the race when he used his traditional closing rush to touch second with a 3:45.30. Leon Marchand, who swims for the University of Texas but is a four-time Olympic Gold medalist for France, was the winner at 3:44.70.
Marchand is also the long-course world record holder in the 200 and 400 IMs.
In the 400 IM, Mijatovic was second with a time of 4:15.91. It was a race where no one was going to beat winner Carson Foster, who finished with a 4:07.07.
In the “B” 200 free final, he was fourth with a 1:48.88, well back of flight winner Shane Casas of Texas, who clocked a 1:46.62.
There were other strong performances from Pleasanton Seahawks swimmers.
Tim Wu, a senior at Dougherty Valley, was second in the “C” final of the 200 free and was fourth in the “C” final of the 400 free.
Jeremy Ting, a senior at Monte Vista, was seventh in the “C” final of the 200 IM and was second in the “C” final of the 400 IM.
Brooke Bennett, a senior at Granada, won the “C” final in the women’s 400 free with a time of 4:20.56. Bennett was also seventh in the “C” final of the 50 breaststroke and fifth in the “B” final of the 400 IM.
Bennett was also seventh in the A final of the 800-meter for women, clocking a 8:55.73.
Taylor Bennett, the younger sister of Brooke and a freshman at Granada, was seventh in the “C” final of the 100 breast.
Rylee Hutchinson, a junior at Amador Valley, was sixth in the “B” final of the 400 IM with a 4:55.07, just back of Brooke Bennett.
Monte Vista football falls in NorCal final
The Mustangs’ incredible run in the postseason ended one step short of a CIF State title game as they fell 17-13 to St. Ignatius in the 3-AA CIF NorCal title game.
St. Ignatius moves on to face Ventura, a 35-28 winner over Arroyo Grande in the SoCal final. The game is set for Friday (Dec. 12) at 8 p.m. at the Fullerton Stadium.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. This column originally appeared in Tri-Valley Preps Playbook, a weekly sports e-newsletter published by Embarcadero Media Foundation. To sign up for free, visit here.
