12-Year-Old Luka Mijatovic Hits 4:44 500 FR, 4:15 400 IM At PC Junior Olympics

2022 Pacific Swimming SC 14&U Junior Olympics

  • March 18-21, 2022
  • Santa Clara, California
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Full Results (HTM)
  • Results on Meet Mobile: “2022 Pacific Swimming SC 14&U Junior Olympics

The Santa Clara Swim Club played host to some of the best up and coming age group swimmers in the Pacific region over the weekend at the George Haines International Swim Center, and several quick swims were produced during the three-day affair.

Highlighting the action was Pleasanton Seahawks swimmer Luka Mijatovic, who has been making headlines recently as he climbs up the all-time rankings in the boys’ 11-12 distance freestyle events, including fourth in the 500 free, fourth in the 1000 free and sixth in the 1650 free.

In Santa Clara, the 12-year-old further improved his 500 free best time by eight one-hundredths, dropping from 4:44.51 to 4:44.43, to maintain his place as the fourth-fastest swimmer in age group history.

Boys’ 11-12 500 Freestyle, All-Time Rankings

  1. Mason Turner (EISF), 4:41.26 – 2019
  2. Nick Silverthorn (PLS), 4:41.54 – 2008
  3. Daniel Arnold (ACAC), 4:44.02 – 2015
  4. Luka Mijatovic (PLS), 4:44.43 – 2022
  5. Nicholas Caldwell (GCST), 4:44.87 – 2006

In the 400 IM, Mijatovic dropped nearly seven seconds from his best time coming into the meet in 4:15.31 to climb into 12th all-time in 11-12 history, having entered with a PB of 4:22.29. He also went 4:20.89 in the prelims.

Mijatovic also established top-30 times in the 200 free (1:47.26), 200 IM (2:00.22) and 200 back (1:58.83), moving into 19th, 25th and 27th all-time in the 11-12 age group, respectively. He added two more bests in the 100 free (50.27) and 50 back (26.49) as well.

Mijatovic’s Seahawk teammate Oryan Liu had some notable swims of his own, clocking 59.75 in the 100 breast, 2:08.55 in the 200 breast and 1:57.16 in the 200 IM at the age of 13.

Liu now ranks 63rd all-time and fifth this season among 13-year-olds in the 200 IM, and is also seventh in the 200 breast and ninth in the 200 breast for 13-year-olds in 2021-22.

On the girls’ side of the competition, 14-year-old Kelsey Zhang of Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics was a standout, establishing a lifetime best of 2:00.31 in the 200 IM to rank 45th all-time in the girls’ 13-14 age group.

Zhang also neared her best times in the 100 fly and 200 fly which rank inside the top-30 in age group history. In the 100 fly, Zhang put up a time of 53.69, just off her 53.48 set earlier this month that sits 26th all-time in the 13-14. In the 200 fly, she was .04 off her best time in 1:57.88, with that 1:57.84 clocking from February ranking 23rd all-time among 13-14s.

The meet also saw 11-year-old Daniela Linares Danzos clock 58.41 in the girls’ 100 fly, making her the 22nd-fastest 11-year-old in histroy. Linares Danzos also had a solid 2:10.71 swim in the 200 fly, having set a PB of 2:06.19 in December that currently ranks her third all-time among 11-year-olds.

Another 11-year-old making noise was Alto Swim Club’s Violet Rutter, who registered times of 10:56.50 in the 1000 free and 18:19.35 in the 1650 to rank third and first, respectively, among 11-year-old girls in the 2021-22 season.

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persn
2 years ago

he’s 6 foot so does it really count

Last edited 2 years ago by persn
NB1
2 years ago

if only he went 4:44.44 🙂

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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