USA Swimming has unveiled the 56 member roster for the 2023 Western Zone Select Camp. The Western Zone Select Camp is held nearly a month after the other three camps, with its dates slated for June 15-18. This year, the camp will be held at San Diego State University in California.
Highlighting the Western roster is National Age Group (NAG) record holder Luka Mijatovic of the Pleasanton Seahawks. Mijatovic has been on fire this season, having broken the boys’ 13-14 NAGs in the 500 free, 1000 free, and 1650 free, all at the age of 13. Most recently, he kicked off his long course season by becoming the 13-year-old American in the 800m free.
In addition to Mijatovic, the Pleasanton Seahawks have three other athletes set to participate in the camp. However, Irvine Novaquatics has the most of any other club team by far, with seven swimmers slated to attend this year.
- See full roster here.
The Western Zone Select Camp is one of four Zone Select Camps held each year. In each zone, 28 girls and 28 boys are chosen to attend, with the girls being ages 12-13 at the time of their performance and boys being 13-14 years old. Athletes are selected by the following criteria:
- The top seven IMX scoring athletes in each age and gender (28 total)
- The next fastest available swimmer in each Olympic event per gender (28 total)
To be selected, athletes must also be U.S. citizens who have not already been to the National Select Camps or been named to the National or Junior National Teams. The camps work as a progression, meaning that once an athlete has attended a higher level camp, they cannot “step down.”
The camps consist of both in-water practices and classroom sessions that cover various information designed to motivate and empower athletes as they continue their swimming careers.
Luka is 13 soon 14. Can the press/media just leave him alone and let him develop and be a kid?