Luka Mijatovic Lowers 15-16 NAG Record in 1000 Free In 8:36.71 on Last Day of CA/NV Sectionals

2025 CA/NV December Sectionals

• December 19-22, 2025
• Walnut, CA
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Live Results Available on Meet Mobile — “2025 CA-NV December Sectionals At BREA – cop”
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap
• Day 3 Recap

On the final night of action at the CA/NV December Sectionals in Walnut, Luka Mijatovic continued to marvel, once again lowering his own 15-16 National Age Group Record in the 1000 freestyle, touching in 8:36.71.

The Texas Longhorn commit touched three-tenths faster than his former NAG record of 8:37.01, which he swam early this November, which at the time had obliterated his previous NAG record of 8:42.45 from February.

Mijatovic went out considerably slower than his former NAG mark, but got back on pace with about 400 yards left to swim. From there, each 100 was faster, with the most sizeable difference coming on the final 100, with the 16-year-old Mijatovic surging home in 49.65 compared to his final 100 from November of 51.17.

Splits Comparison (Former NAG Record v. New NAG Record):

This swim marked his 2nd NAG record of the meet, having broken his own 1650 mark on the first day, shaving seven seconds off of that standard in 14:30.01.

Mijatovic was already well faster than Ethan Ekk‘s 17-18 NAG record of 8:42.25, and has now lengthened that gap even further.

Though faster than his previous best, he still stands as the 5th fastest performer of all time in the event, just 0.06 seconds off Ahmed Jaouadi in 4th with his 8:36.65, and becomes the 5th man ever under 8:37.

Top 5 Performers in History

1. Clark Smith (2015) – 8:33.93
2. David Johnston (2023) – 8:34.82
3. Erik Vendt (2008) – 8:36.49
4. Ahmed Jaouadi (2025)- 8:36.65
5. Luka Mijatovic (2025)- 8:36.71

*This list only includes strictly 1000 yard swims, not opening splits of miles

Mijatovic put together a very strong meet all together; along with his two NAG record swims, he also notched the 2nd fastest 15-16 500 free time ever on day three in 4:09.34, only trailing his own NAG record of 4:08.57.

He also nearly broke Thomas Heilman‘s 200 free NAG mark, clocking just the 2nd ever sub 1:33 from a 15-16 male in 1:32.73 on day two. Just more than an hour later, he inched closer to Maximus WIlliamson‘s NAG in the 400 IM of 3:39.83, clocking a best time of 3:40.96, improving his #2 ranking.

Other Day 4 Highlights:

• Riley Christensen pulled out the win in the women’s 1650 free, finishing nearly two and a half seconds ahead of Isabella Zarkos (16:42.03), touching in 16:39.79.
• Alyssa Ton, fresh off of her 200 free win at the Speedo Winter Junior Championships claimed the 100 free win here in 49.12, just of of her best from February in 49.05.
• Daniela Linares Danzos stormed to a lifetime best in the women’s 200 backstroke, nearly a second and a half better than the field in 1:53.78.
• Tim Wu followed suit from his teammate Linares Danzos, turning in a best time in the 200 back in 1:41.91; no other competitor in the field was under 1:46.
• 27-year-old Amy Okada earned her lone event win of the meet in the 50 butterfly, just a tenth of a second faster than Mikayla Tan in 24.27.
• Princeton commit Yury Kuzmenko nabbed the men’s 50 fly win in 21.31, lowering his lifetime best by over half a second from 21.87.
• Indiana Commit Kayla Han took home the 200 IM win in 1:58.40 as the only sub 2:00 performer. Han did not swim this race at the Winter Junior National Championships earlier this month.