Luka Mijatovic Becomes Fastest 15-Year-Old American in 800 Free (7:57.94) at Summer Champs | SwimSwam

By Riley Overend on SwimSwam

2024 SPEEDO SUMMER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 23 – Saturday, July 27, 2024
• Prelims 9AM, finals 5PM (Pacific Time)
• LCM (50 meters)
• Woollett Aquatics Center, Irvine, California
• Meet Central
• Pre–scratch Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Prelims Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
• Finals Live Recap: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Luka Mijatovic became the fastest 15-year-old American in the 800-meter freestyle during the final session of the 2024 Speedo Summer Championships on Saturday night, placing 5th in Irvine with a personal-best 7:57.94.

The Pleasanton Seahawks phenom reached the wall almost two seconds faster than his previous-best 7:59.64 from last August, snapping an uncharacteristic 11-month plateau in the event. Mijatovic now ranks 5th in the U.S. boys 15-16 national age group (NAG) rankings behind only Luke Ellis (7:56.40), Evan Pinion (7:55.92), Bobby Finke (7:55.16), and Larsen Jensen (7:52.05). Pinion was previously the fastest 15-year-old American in the history of this event with his 7:58.93 from 2010.

Mijatovic was a few seconds faster tonight than he was last month at the U.S. Olympic Trials on his way to 17th place (8:01.54). He was 3:58.83 at the midway point of the race tonight and came home in 3:59.11, showing off remarkably balanced splitting.

He wasn’t the only A-finalist who climbed the NAG rankings on Saturday night as Shawmut Aquatic Club 17-year-old William Mulgrew broke the eight-minute barrier for the first time on his way to 3rd place in the 800 free (7:57.71). The Harvard commit (’25) obliterated his previous-best 8:06.28 from April by almost nine seconds, shooting up to 18th in the 17-18 NAG rankings.

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