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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Juan Vallmitjana, a Spanish native who competes for the South Florida Aquatic Club, was on fire at last week’s Fort Lauderdale Open, setting four best times and earning a pair of podium finishes in the distance freestyle events.
The headlining performance for the Virginia commit was the 800 free, where he knocked nearly two seconds off his personal best time in 7:57.70, placing 3rd behind Bobby Finke and William Mulgrew and climbing the all-time rankings in the boys’ 17-18 age group.
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Still just 17, Vallmitjana now ranks 25th all-time among 17-18 boys in the U.S. club system. His previous best time stood at 7:59.66, set at last summer’s U.S. Pro Championships, which ranks him 7th all-time in the boys’ 15-16 age group.
Split Comparison
| 2025 U.S. Pro Champs |
2026 Fort Lauderdale Open
|
| 26.70 | 27.89 |
| 57.70 (31.00) | 57.23 (29.34) |
| 1:28.10 (30.40) | 1:27.03 (29.80) |
| 1:58.40 (30.30) | 1:56.97 (29.94) |
| 2:28.71 (30.31) | 2:27.11 (30.14) |
| 2:59.13 (30.42) | 2:57.22 (30.11) |
| 3:29.86 (30.73) | 3:27.68 (30.46) |
| 4:00.38 (30.52) | 3:58.02 (30.34) |
| 4:30.86 (30.48) | 4:28.70 (30.68) |
| 5:01.46 (30.60) | 4:59.23 (30.53) |
| 5:31.78 (30.32) | 5:29.76 (30.53) |
| 6:02.35 (30.57) | 6:00.28 (30.52) |
| 6:32.34 (29.99) | 6:30.61 (30.33) |
| 7:02.13 (29.79) | 7:00.53 (29.92) |
| 7:31.15 (29.02) | 7:29.60 (29.07) |
| 7:59.66 (28.51) | 7:57.70 (28.10) |
Additionally, his swim last week is the 10th-fastest we’ve seen from a 17-year-old in the U.S. over the past decade, dating back to the 2015-16 season. It also ranks him seventh all-time among Spaniards, with the national record standing at 7:49.09 from Marcos Rivera in 2009.
Top 17-Year-Old Boys 800 Freestyle (LCM) Performers Since 2015-16 (U.S. Club System)
- Aiden Hammer, 7:51.68 – 2025
- Luke Ellis, 7:52.40 – 2024
- Andrew Abruzzo, 7:54.58 – 2017
- Jake Mithcell, 7:54.70 – 2019
- Gabriel Manteufel, 7:54.71 – 202
- Luke Whitlock, 7:55.00 – 2023
- Sean Green, 7:56.47 – 2024
- Michael Brinegar, 7:57.22 – 2017
- Arik Katz, 7:57.23 – 2019
- Juan Vallmitjana, 7:57.70 – 2026
Vallmitajana also placed 3rd behind Mulgrew and Finke in the 1500 free, clocking 15:22.96, just over six seconds shy of the personal best of 15:16.61 he set in March at the Spanish Spring Championships. That swim ranks him 39th all-time in the 17-18 age group.
In Fort Lauderdale, Vallmitjana also set best times in the 50 free (25.07), 100 free (52.98) and 400 free (3:53.80), and added season-bests in the 200 free (1:51.66) and 200 back (2:11.44).
Last July, Vallmitjana represented Spain at the European Junior Championships in Samorin, Slovakia, where he made the final of the boys’ 1500 free and placed 8th.
He will join the University of Virginia in the fall of 2027.
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