College in Michigan

Mladenovic has fixed his jump across the pond

Swimming ace Luka Mladenovic.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Swimming hopeful Luka Mladenovic has signed for a college in Michigan. But before that, the 20-year-old from Salzburg still has big goals in Europe. In Hungary, he wants to break the limits for the U23 European Championships and the World Championships in the general class.

A big decision requires a lot of thought. That's why swimming hopeful Luka Mladenovic took a long time to choose a suitable college. The Salzburg native actually wanted to go to Arizona to Bob Bowman, once coach of Michael Phelps. But the coach moved to Texas and the university was overwhelmed. "They stopped answering some of my questions," says the 20-year-old. Then he signed with the University of Michigan. "I talked to Felix Auböck, who gave me a lot of tips," says Mladenovic.

The goldfish has been swimming professionally since this season and has focused on the sport after completing his basic training with the army. "I can already feel that it's much easier. I'm not putting any pressure on myself," he emphasizes. Nevertheless, the SSM graduate has big goals: Qualifying for the U23 European Championships and for the World Championships in the general class. He can and wants to break both limits this week in Györ (Hungary): "It feels good. But we're coming from the short course, so it's hard to predict anything." Luca Karl made the U23 limit in the 1500 meter freestyle on Wednesday, as did Moritz Markitz in the juniors.