Massive Drops Carried Luka Mijatovic to World Championships Invitation
The meet was supposed to mark his first national-level finals against the top freestylers in the United States. Luka Mijatovic had ticked off all the prerequisite boxes, including a plethora of National Age Group records and most recently a national high school record in the 500-yard free. But as Mijatovic took a sledgehammer to his best times last week in Indianapolis, he quickly blasted his way into contention for spots on the World Championships team. He would end up achieving four top-eight finishes, two of them unexpected, and his next stop is Singapore for the World Championships.
Mijatovic had hedged his bets on the improvement he might show at Nationals, knowing that the World Junior Championships would have been a more than acceptable consolation prize. But he saw every reason that he could joining the veterans of American swimming on the trip to Singapore.
“The way I’ve been training, it’s definitely put me in a position where I had an opportunity to make this Worlds team, and I’m glad I got my name on the team,” Mijatovic said. “I didn’t have any expectations. I just wanted to come in here with an open mind and perform as well as I can.”
The 16-year-old made the decision to scratch the 1500 free on the opening day of the meet, opting instead to wait until the 200-meter race for his debut. He was seeded 19th in the event entering the meet, and through the first 150 meters of his prelims swim, he seemed to be totally out of contention, only for a blazing last length to result in a fourth-place finish in the heat. His time of 1:45.92 took two seconds from his own best time he became the fastest 18-and-under swimmer in American history. Prior to that swim, no 15-16 swimmer had ever been under 1:47, but Mijatovic jumped right over the 1:46s.
That night, he was in a heat alongside individual Olympic medalists Luke Hobson, Carson Foster and Kieran Smith, among other well-established collegians and professionals. “It was definitely a little bit scary. I didn’t know what to expect since it was my first national final,” Mijatovic said. “I just tried to live in the moment and enjoy it.”
Ryan Erisman, Luka Mijatovic & Rex Maurer after the men’s 400 freestyle final at U.S. Nationals — Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
This time, he could not overcome starting out in eighth place, and he ended up as the only swimmer in the heat to not crack 1:46. But he was perfectly positioned for his better events over the remaining days of the meet. First, though, came an eight-second drop in the 400 IM for another championship final spot, and Mijatovic ended up finishing fifth in this so-called off-event. A day later, Mijatovic was ready to step into his best event, the 400 free, and excel.
Most of the veterans in the field did what they had to in prelims to make it through to the final. Not Mijatovic; he blasted his kick throughout and cut three seconds from his best time and existing National Age Group record. A time of 3:45.89 was the best mark in the heats by more than a second.
That evening, Mijatovic would settle into third and fourth place for most of the race as Rex Maurer, another newcomer, battled against Smith. Maurer would pull away en route to a time of 3:43.33, enough to make him the third-fastest American ever, but Smith was losing ground as Mijatovic and another teenager, Ryan Erisman, charged through the field. “It was a lot easier in the 400 A-final because I was next to one of my good friends, Ryan Erisman,” Mijatovic said. “It felt just like a regular meet, not an A-final at Nationals, since I had him next to me.”
Mijatovic went 27.59 on the way home, charging past Smith and edging out Erisman by three tenths. He sliced a bit more time off his NAG record, 3:45.71, and again became the fastest 18-and-under swimmer in U.S. history, with Erisman’s time of 3:46.01 good for the 17-18 NAG record.
The meet would conclude with Mijatovic placing fourth in the 800 free, his time of 7:53.80 good for another three-second drop, and on the same night, he formally accepted his invitation to join the Worlds team.
“I’m excited to meet the new people, introduce myself to them and hopefully make some new friends,” he said.
