Luka Mijatovic Might Be Within Reach of the Seemingly Unattainable Jack Simon Award

When the Jack Simon Award was announced by the American Swimming Coaches’ Association (ASCA) last October, it seemed like we might be a long way from anybody coming within 1% of the 1500-meter freestyle world record before reaching college.

The world of swimming has changed, and it’s rare for juniors to lead the world, especially in men’s distance races, as they used to regularly do. Notably, all three American men who swam the 1500 free at the 1976 Olympics were high school students (Brian Goodell, Bobby Hackett, and Paul Hartloff, who placed 1st, 2nd, and 7th, respectively). Since then, though, national age group (NAG) records in the event went untouched for decades.

However, that was before Luka Mijatovic had a breakout summer. The Pleasanton Seahawks 14-year-old recently broke the oldest NAG record left on the books belonging to Jesse Vassallo (15:31.03) in the 1500 free with a time of 15:27.38 at Summer Juniors last month. Mijatovic’s progression has been remarkable, shaving more than a minute off his lifetime best over the past year. The soon-to-be high school freshman has about four years remaining (before he presumably begins college) to earn the Jack Simon Award, which would require dropping nearly 48 seconds to hit 14:39.73 — within 1% of the current world record of 14:31.02 set by Sun Yang in 2012.

Luka Mijatovic, 1500 Free Progression

• July 2022: 16:41.14
• June 2023: 15:47.19
• June 2023: 15:32.18
• July 2023: 15:27.38
• Jack Simon Award target: 14:39.73

Mijatovic’s recent progression bodes well for his prospects of winning the Jack Simon Award, which comes with a cash prize for his coach. The award’s endowment was established with $3,500, but the amount is expected to grow substantially after Simon’s passing. The prize is 98% of the interest earned on the principle amount from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 of the preceding year, which is only about $200 right now but could soon become significantly more.

Although Mijatovic has been on a red-hot streak as of late, history suggests that Pleasanton Seahawks coach Steve Morsilli will have to proceed with caution in order to avoid burning out the young distance star. Vassallo’s best time as a 15-16 (15:25.56) was only five seconds faster than his 13-14 record, and Hackett added almost 23 seconds to his 15-16 mark as a 17-18 (15:26.87).

There’s also a chance that Mijatovic will have to drop more than 48 seconds with a pair of swimmers threatening the men’s 1500 free world record at last month’s World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Ahmed Hafnaoui (14:31.54) and Bobby Finke (14:31.59) came just half a second shy of Yang’s 11-year-old global standard with their impressive 1-2 finish.

The best hope for the Jack Simon Award on the girls’ side is Katie Grimes, a 17-year-old Sandpipers of Nevada standout whose best 1500 free time of 15:44.89 from the 2022 World Championships (where she won silver) is still 15 seconds away from the threshold for the prize. At Worlds this year, coming off a grueling open water program, she clocked a 16:04.21. She has about a year of eligibility left for this award before she’s slated to attend college.

Restrictions on the Jack Simon Award:

• The swimmer’s coach must have been their coach of record, or head coach of the program where the qualifying swimmer trains, for at least three years preceding the swim (continuously).
• The coach must have no association “whatsoever” to a university of a university facility, including club teams based out of university facilities or owned by universities, such as Longhorn Aquatics, Denver Hilltoppers, or Tucson Ford Aquatics.
• The swimmer must be eligible to represent the United States. The swimmer doesn’t have to be an American citizen, but has to be a member in good standing of USA Swimming and a current member of ASCA.