Luke Whitlock & Luka Mijatovic Impress With 400 Free Best Times During Heats of Olympic Trials (original) (raw)

2024 U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS

The final event of the first U.S. Olympic Trials prelim session saw young guns continue to rise.

Two budding stars, Luke Whitlock (18) and Luka Mijatovic (15), clocked personal best times in the event. Whitlock stunned the final heat with a big-time swim of 3:46.42, which absolutely obliterated his previous lifetime standard of 3:49.10.

At last month’s Indy May Cup, Whitlock posted lifetime bests in the 400/800/1500 freestyle, swimming 3:49.10/7:50.20/15:07.94. It’s clear that he’s made yet another leap forward in just a month’s time, and he was already a real threat to contend for a Paris spot in the 800 free prior to this morning’s drop. He is slated to join the Florida Gators swim team, where he will train alongside the likes of Bobby Finke, Kieran Smith, and Katie Ledecky.

Whitlock rocketed himself to the 2nd fastest 17-18 400 freestyler in U.S. History with his swim.

All-Time Performers, U.S. Boys’ 17-18 400 Freestyle (LCM)

  1. Larsen Jensen, 3:46.08 – 2004
  2. Luke Whitlock, 3:46.42 – 2024
  3. Michael Phelps, 3:46.73 – 2003
  4. Klete Keller / Aaron Shackell, 3:47.00 – 2000 / 2003
  5. –

Mijatovic, on the other hand, punched a time of 3:50.71 to lower his previous best of 3:51.18 from March. That makes him the fastest 15-year-old American ever, and 2nd fastest in the 15-16 age group. He narrowly missed the Larson Jensen’s NAG record of 3:50.68. He placed 12th overall and is anticipated to line-up for the 200, 800, and 1500 distances later next week.

Full Results (Final Qualifiers):

  1. Luke Whitlock (FAST), 3:46.42
  2. David Johnston (TST), 3:47.17
  3. Jake Mitchell (FLOR), 3:47.76
  4. Aaron Shackell (CSC), 3:47.96
  5. Jake Magahey (SA), 3:48.16
  6. Kieran Smith (RAC), 3:48.25
  7. Daniel Matheson (SUN), 3:48.57
  8. Bobby Finke (SPA), 3:48.63

In This Story

Luke Whitlock