Luka Mijatovic Cracks Own 13-14 Boys 1000 Free NAG with 8:55.41

2023 Pleasanton Seahawks Short Course Senior Open

• November 3-5, 2023
• Pleasanton, California
• Short Course Yards (25y), Prelims/Finals
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Pleasanton Seahawks SC Senior Open”

Pleasanton Seahawks are hosting an open senior meet this weekend, featuring a few dozen teams from around the area. The first night of the meet was a distance session and rising distance star Luka Mijatovic put on a show. The 14-year-old threw down a blistering 8:55.41, cracking his own 13-14 National Age Group Record (NAG), which he set at 8:59.29 earlier this year.

Mijatovic set the NAG at 8:59.29 back in March at the 2023 PC Spring Age Group Championships, when he was notably still just 13 years old. Now, early in the 2023-2024 season, he’s already bettered that mark. Here’s a look at the split comparison between Mijatovic’s swim last night and his previous NAG from March:

As the splits show, Mijatovic was out just a tiny bit slower on the first 100 last night, but then was just a bit faster on every other 100 through the rest of the race. It sets the 14-year-old up quite well for the remainder of the season, especially considering he also already holds the 13-14 1650 NAG at 15:00.95.

Mijatovic really turned heads over the summer, when he broke the oldest NAG on the books. He came in 3rd at Summer Junior Nationals, swimming a 15:27.38, which cracked the 13-14 NAG of 15:31.03, which Jesse Vassallo set back in 1976.

It’s worth noting that the #2 all-time performer in the 1000 free in the 13-14 boys age group is Matthew Hirschberger with a 9:02.37. That shows that Mijatovic is really beginning to pull away from the rest of the all-time performers, as he’s now just shy of 7 seconds faster than anyone else in history.

Mijatovic doesn’t turn 15 until the spring, so he still has time to take this NAG (and others) down even further. He’s set to race the 500 free on Sunday, so perhaps we’ll even see another NAG sooner rather than later.