Luka Mijatovic Downs One Final NAG Record in 2025, Clipping Own 1000 Free Mark
A sensational year of competition for 16-year-old Luka Mijatovic came to a close Monday at the Sectionals meet in Walnut, Calif., as he downed more more National Age Group record. Mijatovic swam a time of 8:36.74 in the 1000 freestyle to surpass his own national mark of 8:37.01, which was set just last month. On that occasion, Mijatovic had wiped five seconds off his own previous NAG mark of 8:42.45. The two most recent times are ahead of the 17-18 NAG mark, set earlier this month by Ethan Ekk (8:42.25).
This mark is Mijatovic’s fourth national record of the month. Previously, he achieved new standards for his age group in the long course 400 free (3:45.30) and 800 free (7:48.28) at the U.S. Open, and he opened Sectionals competition with a time of 14:30.01 in the 1650 free, crushing his previous time in that event by an incredible 7.62 seconds.
In other events this week, Mijatovic swam a best time of 1:32.73 in the 200 free to come within three tenths of the NAG record held by Thomas Heilman. He also went 4:09.34 in the 500 free, not far back of his NAG mark of 4:08.57 from last month, and his 400 IM performance of 3:40.96 was just over a second behind the time of Maximus Williamson (3:39.83).
The past 12 months saw Mijatovic take the step from junior-level talent to senior-level contender as he qualified for the World Championships team for the first time with his runnerup finish in the 400 free at U.S. Nationals. Mijatovic was also a top-eight finisher in the 200 and 800 free at the qualifying meet. Since then, he has announced his verbal commitment to swim for the University of Texas beginning in 2027.