2022 Swammy Awards: Age Group Swimmer of the Year – 11-12

To see all of our 2022 Swammy Awards, click here.

2022 Honorees: Mikayla Tan and Luka Mijatovic

Editor’s note: because of ongoing challenges with the USA Swimming results database, identifying all of the top candidates for this year’s age group awards in an objective way has been challenging. We’ve done our best to find them, but it’s possible that we missed someone obvious. If that’s the case, please let us know in the comments!

11-12 Girls

Mikayla Tan, DART Swimming (Sacramento, CA)

Mikayla Tan, whose younger brother Ayden was our 10&U Swimmer of the Year, kicked off the year with several impressive swims at the DART Superleague Championships in February. The then-11-year-old inched closer to the top of the all-time list for 11-12 girls in several events, including the 200 breast, 100 fly, and 200 free. Two months later, she began long course season with a bang, putting up all-time top-ten times in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. In the 200, she dropped almost 4.5 seconds to notch a 2:26.83, the fourth-fastest time in 11-12 girls’ history.

In May, at a post-high school meet sponsored by DART that featured both SCY and LCM racing, Tan broke the 11-12 NAG record in the SCY 200 breast with a time of 2:15.38. She also clocked the third-fastest LCM 100 breast time in 11-12 history, lowering her PB by .4 to go 1:12.74, the best performance in the age group in nearly 24 years. At the end of the summer, she produced the #2 LCM 200 breast time in 11-12 history (2:34.40) at Summer Junior Nationals, missing Annie Lazor’s NAG by only .12.

Tan closed out the year at Winter Juniors West, where she took down Leah Hayes’ NAG record in the SCY 100 breast with 1:02.61.

Tan finished 2022 ranked among the top-ten in the 11-12 age group in 20 events. She was #1 in the SCY 50/100/200 breast and 100/200 IM and the LCM 400 free, 50/100/200 breast, and 200 IM; #2 in the SCY 400 IM and LCM 400 IM; #3 in the SCY 50 free; #4 in the LCM 200 free; #5 in the SCY 200 fly; #6 in the LCM 50 free; #7 in the SCY 100 free; #8 in the SCY 100 fly; #9 in the LCM 100 fly; and #10 in the SCY 200 free.

Runner-Up

Audrey Derivaux – Jersey Wahoos (Mt Laurel Township, NJ)

For the second year in a row, Jersey Wahoos’ Audrey Derivaux was our runner-up. In addition to closing out 2022 with 28 top-ten performances, the 12-year-old broke the NAG record in the LCM 100 butterfly with a 1:01.41 in the C final at Summer Junior Nationals. In doing so, she knocked off a ten-year-old national mark set by Cassidy Bayer, who had, in turn, downed a record owned by Olympic champion Dana Vollmer.

Derivaux wrapped up the year ranked among the top-ten in 28 of the 33 events (SCY and LCM combined) in the 11-12 age group. She led the age group in the SCY 200 back, 50/100 fly, and 400 IM and the LCM 50/100/200 back, 50/100/200 fly, and 400 IM. She was #2 in the SCY 50 free, 50 back, 200 fly, and 100/200 IM and the LCM 50 free, 50 breast, and 200 IM; #3 in the SCY 100 back; #4 in the LCM 100 free; #6 in the SCY 100 free and 200 breast and the LCM 400 free and 100 breast; #7 in the SCY 200 free and LCM 200 free; and #9 in the SCY 1650 free.

Honorable Mention

• Brinkleigh Hansen – Saint Petersburg Aquatics-FL: Hansen led the age group in distance freestyle events in both short course yards (1000/1650 free) and long course meters (800/1500 free). She ranked second in the SCY 500 free and LCM 400 free; fifth in the LCM 200 free; sixth in the SCY 200 free; and eighth in the LCM 400 IM.

• Grace Koenig-Song – NASA Wildcat Aquatics-IL: Many of Koenig-Song’s 16 top-ten performances came while she was still 11 years old. She produced the year’s #2 time in the SCY 50 fly and was #3 in the SCY 100 fly; #4 in the SCY 100 breast and LCM 100 breast; #5 in the SCY 100 free and 200 IM and LCM 100 free, 50 fly, and 200 IM; #6 in the SCY 100 IM and LCM 50 breast; #8 in the LCM 200 f

11-12 Boys

Luka Mijatovic – Pleasanton Seahawks (Pleasanton, CA)

Luka Mijatovic only spent the first third of 2022 in the 11-12s, but he left his mark on the age group before moving on to the 13-14s with category-leading times in seven events that held up through December. Mijatovic was the fastest 11-12 boy in the nation in the SCY 200 free, 500 free, 1000 free, 1650 free, and 400 IM and the LCM 200 free and 400 free. He led each of the SCY events by a significant margin: he was the fastest by 2.3 seconds in the 200 free, by 4.5 in the 500, by 4.7 in the 1000, by 13.7 in the 1650, and by 1.8 in the 400y IM.

In addition, he ranked second for the year in the SCY 200 IM; third in the SCY 200 back; fourth in the SCY 100 free; sixth in the LCM 200 IM; seventh in the SCY 50 back and LCM 200 back; eighth in the LCM 100 back; and tenth in the SCY 100 back.

After moving on to the 13-14s, Mijatovic has established himself as one of the fastest 13-year-old boys in history. At Winter Juniors West in December, he logged the second-fastest 200/400 IM times ever, for a 13-year-old, behind Michael Andrew and Josh Zuchowski, respectively. Two weeks later, he broke the National Age Group Record in the 500 free at California/Nevada Sectionals, going 4:24.72 to undercut PLS teammate’s Lleyton Plattel’s mark from 2017 by .07. In addition to the 500 free, Mijatovic had the fastest time among all 13-14 boys for the year in the 1000 free (9:06.13).

Runner-Up

Reid O’Connell – Long Island Aquatic Club (Long Island, NY)

Were it not for Mijatovic, Reid O’Connell would have been the age group’s leading distance freestyle performer for the second year in a row. And while he, too, moved up to the 13-14s after his spring championship meet, no one surpassed him in the following eight months in seven events.

O’Connell left the 11-12s with the fastest times for 2022 in the SCY 100 free, 200 back, 200 breast, and 100/200 IM and the LCM 100 free and 200 fly. He was runner-up in the standings to Mijatovic in the SCY 200/500/1650 free, and 400 IM and the LCM 200/400 free. He also finished the year second in the SCY 200 fly and LCM 200/400 IM; third in the SCY 1000 free; fourth in the SCY 100 breast and LCM 200 back; seventh in the SCY 50 breast; eighth in the SCY 100 back; and ninth in the SCY 50 free.

Honorable Mention

• Yunxiang (Eric) Xu – Dynamo Swim Club-GA: Like Mijatovic and O’Connell, Xu excelled at the longer end of the range. He finished the year with 20 top-ten rankings, including the top performances in the LCM 800 free and 1500 free. Xu was #3 in the LCM 100 fly; #4 in the SCY 1650 free and 400 IM and the LCM 400 free, 50/100 back, 50/200 fly, and 400 IM; #5 in the SCY 500/1000 free and LCM 200 free, 200 back, and 200 IM; #6 in the LCM 100 free; #9 in the LCM 50 free; and #10 in the SCY 200 back and 200 IM.

• Syunta Lee – West Coast Aquatics-PN: Lee was another strong performer in mid-distance and distance, but he also logged top-ten national times in a number of shorter events. Lee led the age group for 2022 in the LCM 200 back, 200 breast, and 200/400 IM. He was #2 in the SCY 200 back; #3 in the SCY 1650 free and 400 IM, as well as the LCM 100/200 free and 50/100 back; #4 in the SCY 200 IM and LCM 50 free; #5 in the SCY 100 back and 100 IM; #6 in the LCM 400 free; and #7 in the SCY 1000 free.

Past Winners