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Breaststroke/Freestyle
/ Men's Swimming & Diving
McHugh Wins Second NCAA Title on Final Day of 2021 NCAA Championships
3/27/2021 9:09:00 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS - In his time at the 2021 NCAA Championships, junior breaststroker Max McHugh has done more than just secure Minnesota's first two NCAA titles in the past 58 years; he has cemented his name into Gopher lore as arguably the best swimmer in Minnesota history.
McHugh became the first swimmer in the history of the Minnesota swimming and diving program to ever earn two titles in one NCAA Championships after out touching the rest of the 200 breaststroke field during Saturday's finals session. Doing so in an incredible time of 1:49.02, the fifth-fastest in history, McHugh also managed to break his own Minnesota school record in the process.
"I'm thrilled with how this week went," said McHugh. "The coaching staff and I prepared all year for this meet and it's exciting to see it all come together. Happy with the meet, but I'm just looking forward to getting back in the water and training for the Olympic Trials this summer!"
Saturday's win didn't come nearly as easily to the Sturgeon Bay, Wis. native as his first title did Friday night, as McHugh entered the night's finals session as the second overall seed with a prelim time of 1:50.88, just over a full second behind the University of California's Reese Whitley. For the second night in a row, however, McHugh brought everything he had to the night's finals session.
Opening with a 52.16 split time over the first 100 yards, McHugh held a mere 0.06 second lead over Whitley before ultimately closing out the race with a remarkable 56.86 split to outtouch the Cal swimmer by just over half a second. Almost more impressively, his final time of 1:49.02 reflected a phenomenal 1.86 second drop from his preliminary time.
Including his 100 breaststroke title from a night earlier, Saturday's winning performance marks the second of any Gopher men's swimmer in the past 57 years, and first of any Gopher man since legendary Minnesota diver Pj Bogart won his third NCAA title on the one-meter springboard in 1996. The titles also bring Minnesota's count to four NCAA Champion performances this season after Sarah Bacon swept the springboard diving events at last week's women's 2021 NCAA Championships.
Head coach Kelly Kremer spoke highly of McHugh following the electric night of action. "I'm really proud of Max, which is a huge understatement, obviously," said Kremer. "It's clearly hard to win at this level, and we haven't seen a Gopher men's swimmer win on this stage for so long, and he won two! We have a team with limitless potential right now. I'm hopeful the Gopher men at home watching and supporting Max tonight will be inspired to commit to do what's necessary to impact this meet next year as a team!"
Overall, the Gophers finished 21st at this year's national championships with 40 points, all of which came from McHugh.
For McHugh, the pair of titles he will bring home for the Maroon and Gold stand as much more than just classy decorations for his trophy stand. Rather, they will stand as proof of how unbelievably hard he has worked over his three years as a Golden Gopher, and as a reminder of what lies in his future: greatness.
McHugh became the first swimmer in the history of the Minnesota swimming and diving program to ever earn two titles in one NCAA Championships after out touching the rest of the 200 breaststroke field during Saturday's finals session. Doing so in an incredible time of 1:49.02, the fifth-fastest in history, McHugh also managed to break his own Minnesota school record in the process.
"I'm thrilled with how this week went," said McHugh. "The coaching staff and I prepared all year for this meet and it's exciting to see it all come together. Happy with the meet, but I'm just looking forward to getting back in the water and training for the Olympic Trials this summer!"
Saturday's win didn't come nearly as easily to the Sturgeon Bay, Wis. native as his first title did Friday night, as McHugh entered the night's finals session as the second overall seed with a prelim time of 1:50.88, just over a full second behind the University of California's Reese Whitley. For the second night in a row, however, McHugh brought everything he had to the night's finals session.
Opening with a 52.16 split time over the first 100 yards, McHugh held a mere 0.06 second lead over Whitley before ultimately closing out the race with a remarkable 56.86 split to outtouch the Cal swimmer by just over half a second. Almost more impressively, his final time of 1:49.02 reflected a phenomenal 1.86 second drop from his preliminary time.
Including his 100 breaststroke title from a night earlier, Saturday's winning performance marks the second of any Gopher men's swimmer in the past 57 years, and first of any Gopher man since legendary Minnesota diver Pj Bogart won his third NCAA title on the one-meter springboard in 1996. The titles also bring Minnesota's count to four NCAA Champion performances this season after Sarah Bacon swept the springboard diving events at last week's women's 2021 NCAA Championships.
Head coach Kelly Kremer spoke highly of McHugh following the electric night of action. "I'm really proud of Max, which is a huge understatement, obviously," said Kremer. "It's clearly hard to win at this level, and we haven't seen a Gopher men's swimmer win on this stage for so long, and he won two! We have a team with limitless potential right now. I'm hopeful the Gopher men at home watching and supporting Max tonight will be inspired to commit to do what's necessary to impact this meet next year as a team!"
Overall, the Gophers finished 21st at this year's national championships with 40 points, all of which came from McHugh.
For McHugh, the pair of titles he will bring home for the Maroon and Gold stand as much more than just classy decorations for his trophy stand. Rather, they will stand as proof of how unbelievably hard he has worked over his three years as a Golden Gopher, and as a reminder of what lies in his future: greatness.
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