On Friday, the #1 ranked recruit in the High School class of 2027, Luka MIjatovic, announced his commitment to the University of Texas. In this podcast, we discuss his decision to go train with Bob Bowman, his experience at World Championships, and training for mid-distance freestyle.
- 0:00 Luka MIjatovic Introduction
- 1:33 Committing to Texas
- 7:17 US World Trials
- 12:05 Chasing Dreams Since Age 6
- 16:48 Pleasanton Seahawks
- 25:57 First Sub-4:00 500y Free?
- 29:35 World Championship Training Camp
- 32:51 Losing 20lbs from Sickness
- 34:10 Experience at World Champs
- 39:40 Diet
- 42:10 Upcoming Meets
- 45:06 Chasing 400 Free World Junior Record
- 46:55 Favorite Swimmer
- 47:44 Competing at Berlin World Cup at Age 13
In the SwimSwam Podcast dive deeper into the sport you love with insider conversations about swimming. Hosted by Coleman Hodges and Gold Medal Mel Stewart, SwimSwam welcomes both the biggest names in swimming that you already know, and rising stars that you need to get to know, as we break down the past, present, and future of aquatic sports.
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Music: Otis McDonald
www.otismacmusic.com
Opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the interviewed guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of the hosts, SwimSwam Partners, LLC and/or SwimSwam advertising partners.
Great interview. We’ve been watching Luka come up the ranks for many years now. He’s a good kid with a very bright future. UT is the obvious choice for him for all practical reasons. He seems excited too which is by far the most important reason to choose a school. Good luck to him!
Luka is a terrific young swimmer, who seems pretty chill. It’s not a bad interview, all-in-all. I’d gently suggest: invest in a couple sessions with a media coach? Little things like the lighting, camera angle, and having a couple quips/stories at the ready will help you shine. This applies to most swimmers.
I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more Luka!
You’d think USA Swimming would assist national team members with this!!
you’d think USA Swimming would be doing a lot of things that they are not
Post of the Year!!!
USA Swimming provides lots of media training…you can tell it hits when the answers get really boring and rehearsed sounding. “A lot of great competitors out there blah blah.” That, or they start skipping media altogether (which was a big issue at the Olympic Trials and Olympic Games).
USA Swimming does not care about building an audience of swimming fans. USA Swimming cares about building an audience of 8-17 year old participants, because that drives their revenue. So the ‘media training’ they get isn’t really any good for the rest of us (or, if you look at the numbers, 8-17 year old participants either, it turns out).
Not everyone is going to be good in front of the camera. There’s a difference between being unprofessional and just not that great at it.
One of the best parodies we saw of this was from Luca Urlando. I can’t remember which meet… maybe NCAAs 2025 with his 200 fly win? Post-race, he provided a half-sardonic “You know, trusting the process” or something before laughing it off. It was hilarious and refreshing.
“USA Swimming does not care about building an audience of swimming fans.”
He’s 17 and did a great job.
16!
Literally, it does not take much to significantly impact the quality
Lighting is so important.
Why do we care so much about lighting for the interview of a 16 year old who does just fine? SMH.
Nicolas Santos just went a 23.15 LCM 50fly, WR in the 45+ class!
Faster than Dressel in 2025.
Might win Enhanced Games with that
I smell jealousy 🙄
Imagine if it wasn’t a WR! 🤣
“See how far under the 400 free jr world record I can get” – brother what
My boy has a lot of confidence in his ability and isn’t afraid to make his goals clear. I miss these types of swimmers who are this open about their goals. He reminds me of Popovici, when he said he wanted to break the age group 16-year-old world record in the 100 and then went on to obliterate it.
Yea for Luka I think this summer was just a tease about what’s to come for him.
Yeah, dropping a 3:59.6 in the heats was quite a tease
Good grief, you are horrid.
Tbf, Thorpe showed a 17 year old can go nearly 3 seconds under that record.
Also, in 1999, a 16 yo Thorpe swam 3:41.83 in BRIEFS, at that time was a WR, smashed Perkins 3:43.80
Does he know that 16 yo Thorpe swam 3:41.83 in speedo briefs?
Don’t worry the swimswam comments been bringing it up for years
I long for the day when old foggies stop bringing him up. No retired swimmer gets brought up on this site more than him
Too bad for you.
It’s because his times are still relevant. People will bring him up less when his times stop challenging the best in the world.
True enough. Just wish we could enjoy the talent we have, instead of wishing they were someone who retired 20 years ago
He gets defended a lot now because for a while it was popular to claim he was only that good because of his fully body suit. Somebody would always bring that up.
That can drive us old people crazy. It is hard to explain how out of this world fast he was when he came on the scene. And he got the suit because he was fast, not the other way around.
EXACTLY THIS
there was a period in SWIMSWAM (around early to mid 2010s) where many people claimed Thorpe was fast only due to bodysuit.
Some people are still claiming the same!
Us oldie bring up Mary T going 2:05 in 1981 too … Because that is still a medal worthy time 40+ years later
3:41.83 from 26 years ago would have won 2025 World Championship, beating LUKAS MARTENS and SAM SHORT.
And Thorpe was 16 yo and wore BRIEFS
LMFAO
Wait, can Luka still qualify for Pan Pacs at US Nationals next year? I don’t fully know how this is gonna work this season
Not unless he tries open water. For Pan Pacs they can swim any events they want in addition to whatever gets them on the team. The only event that is still open to qualify is open water. In theory he could qualify in the 10k and then swim whatever he wants in the pool. Downside is the 10k is before the pool events.
This he means Jr pan pacs.
He was a kid saying this but wild to see how things have changed.
https://www.svvoice.com/9-year-old-wins-7-golds-at-junior-olympics/
Just saw a call fan drop to his knees in an Erewhon.
1) spelling isn’t THAT hard
2) no erewhon’s in the Bay Area
3) they’ll get 5 Europeans with a combined 17 A cuts in February. They will be fine
Elite comment.
Thanks for rubbing it in.
didn’t mean it that way
Thanks for sharing the link to that news article.
i remember reading it years ago and finding it again last night
Oh that’s got to hurt his Mum reading that quote again 😉 😁. Seriously though, he has to do what’s right for him, pretty safe to suggest all the big programs (at least, most) would provide the swim sets for an athlete to reach very high standards but the complete surrounding environment (work/life balance) plays a bigger part in reaching “full potential” than what a lot of people give credit to. Swimming is an individual pursuit that requires a full team effort every day, strange intertwined relationship that not everybody understands.
Coleman, great interview 👍.