2022 Pacific Swimming SC Far Western Champs
- April 7-10, 2022
- Morgan Hill Aquatics Center, Morgan Hill, CA
- Hosted by QuickSilver Swimming and Pacific Swimming
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results on MeetMobile: “2022 Pacific Swimming SC Far Western Champs”
The 2022 SC Far Westerns meet kicked off yesterday in Morgan Hill, CA. On the first day of the meet, 12-year-old Luka Mijatovic out of Pleasanton Seahawks was on fire, roaring to victory in both the 11-12 boys 200 free and 50 back. In his first event of the night, Mijatovic swam a blistering 1:45.64 to win the 11-12 boys 200 free by 6 seconds. You might be thinking “well, that sounds fast for a 12-year-old,” in which case you would be correct. The swim took 1.62 seconds off Mijatovic’s personal best, vaulting him to #4 all-time in the 11-12 age group.
The youngster was out quick, swimming a 51.44 on the first 100, then coming home in 54.20. The swim broke Nick Silverthorn‘s Pacific Swimming LSC Record for 11-12 boys, which stood at 1:46.23 from 2008. Here are the newly-updated all-time rankings in the 11-12 boys SCY 200 free:
| Rank | Time | Swimmer | Meet |
| 1 | 1:44.28 | Thomas Heilman | 2019 NC YOTA Arena Capital Classic |
| 2 | 1:45.43 | Winn Aung | 2015 CC Juanita Allington Memorial Sr Meet |
| 3 | 1:45.52 | Matthew Magness | 2013 MA DSC Tyr Cup Holiday Classic |
| 4 | 1:45.64 | Luka Mijatovic | 2022 Pacific Swimming SC Far Western Champs |
| 5 | 1:46.10 | Owen Ekk | 2021 FL Florida Swimming Spring FLAGS North |
| 6 | 1:46.17 | Ronald Dalmacio | 2017 CA SCS 14-UN SCY JO Champs + TT |
| 7 | 1:46.22 | Jarrett Payne | 2019 OH AP Great Lakes Zone Y |
| 8 | 1:46.23 | Nick Silverthorn | 2008 PC TERA SCY SENR T&F |
| 9 | 1:46.31 | Mason Turner | 2019 IA Linn-Mar Spring Splash |
| 10 | 1:46.49 | Maxime Rooney | 2011 PC ALMA Far Westerns |
Mijatovic would then go on to win the 11-12 boys 50 back as well. swimming a new personal best of 26.02. With the swim, Mijatovic broke into the all-time top 100 for 11-12 boys.
In the 13-14 girls 200 free, Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics 14-year-old Kelsey Zhang had a great swim, clocking a 1:48.48 to touch first by nearly 4 seconds. Entering the meet with a career best of 1:50.35, which she had just set in February, Zhang broke 1:50 for the first time in prelims, swimming a 1:49.77. In finals, she put together a well-split race, clocking 50 splits of 25.26, 27.29, 28.27, and 27.66 respectively.
Zhang would then go on to win the girls 13-14 100 fly, swimming a 53.63. The swim came in just off her personal best of 53.49.
NBA 12-year-old Cameron Forbes took the girls 11-12 50 back in 27.77, establishing a new personal best. In prelims, Alyssa Ton (Irvine Novaquatics) posted a 27.73, but was a bit slower in finals, touching 2nd in 27.95.
SCSC’s Shareef Elaydi won the boy’s 11-12 100 fly in 53.95, taking 1.64 seconds off his previous best time. Elaydi was great on the back half of the race, coming home in 28.10 after swimming a 25.85 on the first 50 of the race. With the swim, Elaydi is now tied for #25 all-time in the 11-12 boys age group.
In the boys 15-18 200 breast, QSS 16-year-old Ewan Lonergan nearly broke 2:00 for the first time in his career, swimming a 2:00.30. The swim still knocked 2.86 seconds off his personal best of 2:03.16. Similarly, Steven Tran, 17, swam a 2:00.93, which was also a personal best.
The women’s 15-18 200 breast saw 17-year-old Zoey Zeller speed to a new personal best of 2:11.21.
Unbelievable. Hope this young man sticks with it, he is great.
dude is 6 foot at 12
You know with the way swimming has been improving for the youth, I wouldn’t have been surprised if this was actually LCM
Thought this was SCM in all my ignorance (and sleep deprivation) and almost **** a brick 😅 Impressive nonetheless, well done!
with all the WC trials meets going on, my brain initially registered this as LCM 😅