{"id":649090,"date":"2026-07-31T11:28:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T18:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=649090"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:01:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T19:01:57","slug":"u-s-nationals-day-four-mens-prelims-luka-mijatovic-tops-400-free-but-heading-to-18-and-under-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/u-s-nationals-day-four-mens-prelims-luka-mijatovic-tops-400-free-but-heading-to-18-and-under-final\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Nationals, Day Four Men’s Prelims: Luka Mijatovic Tops 400 Free But Heading to 18-and-Under Final"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. Nationals, Day Four Men’s Prelims: Luka Mijatovic Tops 400 Free But Heading to 18-and-Under Final<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prelims of three men’s events took place Friday morning at U.S. Nationals in Irvine, Calif., with action in the 400 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke. An unusual scenario played out in the 400 free as rising stars Luka Mijatovic <\/strong>and\u00a0Ryan Erisman<\/strong> posted the two best times but will not race each other in the final since Mijatovic is eligible for qualification to the Junior Pan Pacific Championships. The 100 breast, meanwhile, saw\u00a0Alexei Avakov<\/strong> take first place into a final that will be without some big names.<\/p>\n