Maxwell McHugh (born 1999) is an American competitive

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

specializing in

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

events. In 2021, he won two NCAA Division I titles at the year's championships, one in the 100 yard breaststroke and one in the 200 yard breaststroke. At the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships, he won the NCAA title in the 100 yard breaststroke. He competes collegiately for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Background

McHugh graduated from Sevastopol High School in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin where he competed scholastically as part of the high school team and set a National Age Group record, overall national high school record, and national public high school record in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 51.62 seconds at the 2018 Wisconsin State High School Championships.Keith, Braden (February 16, 2018)
"Max McHugh Breaks National High School Record In 100 Breaststroke"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. In 2018, he started attending the University of Minnesota where he is majoring in psychology and competes collegiately as part of the Minnesota Golden Gophers swim team."2021-22 Men's Swimming & Diving Roster: Max McHugh"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. In the summer of 2019, he was a survivor in a drive-by shooting, receiving a bullet to his right leg and recovering from the wound to return and continue competing collegiately.Hart, Torrey (July 28, 2019)
"Minnesota Swimmers Max McHugh And Nick Saulnier Injured In Shooting"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...

''. Retrieved January 30, 2022.Rieder, David (February 4, 2020)
"Learning From Adversity: Minnesota's Max McHugh Perseveres After Drive-By Shooting"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. McHugh has an older brother, Conner McHugh, who is also a competitive swimmer specializing in breaststroke events and who swam collegiately for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.Shaw, Mike (February 27, 2018)
"Conner McHugh swims to NCAA's second-best breaststroke time for Minnesota"
'' Green Bay Press-Gazette''. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

Career

2018–2019 collegiate season

In his freshman year, McHugh won the bronze medal in the 100 yard breaststroke at the

2019 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships The 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships were contested from March 27–30, 2019 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center at University of Texas at Austin in Austin, Texas at the 96th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet ...

in Austin, Texas with a time of 50.52 seconds in the final after swimming a personal best time of 50.30 seconds in the prelims heats."McHugh Earns Bronze at NCAA Championships"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. March 29, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2022. For the 200 yard breaststroke, McHugh won the silver medal in 1:49.41, finishing 0.71 seconds behind the first-place finisher in the event

Andrew Seliskar Andrew Hammond Seliskar (born September 26, 1996) is a retired American competitive swimmer. He won the gold medal in the 200 meter butterfly at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai, breaking the Championships record. Seli ...

of the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

.Ross, Andy (March 30, 2019)
"Andrew Seliskar Wins Third Event of NCAAs to Move to Third All-Time in 200 Breast"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

2020–2021 collegiate season

Competing at the 2021 Big Ten Conference Championships in March 2021 in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, McHugh split a 22.40 for the breaststroke leg of the 4×50 yard medley relay, which was the fastest 50 yard breaststroke relay split in the history of the NCAA.Ortegon, Karl (March 2, 2021)
"Max McHugh Unleashes Fastest 50-Yard Breast Split Ever – 22.40"
''

''. Retrieved January 30, 2022.Ross, Andy (March 2, 2021)
"Max McHugh Splits All-Time Fastest 50 Breaststroke at Big Ten Men's Swimming Championships"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. Later in the month, McHugh won the NCAA title in the 100 yard breaststroke at the 2021 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships with a personal best time of 50.18 seconds and became the first Minnesota Golden Gopher since 1964 to win an individual NCAA title.Ross, Andy (March 26, 2021)
"Wins Minnesota's First NCAA Men's Swimming Title Since 1964 With 100 Breast"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved January 30, 2022."Gophers junior Max McHugh wins 100-yard breaststroke in NCAA swimming meet"
''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

''. March 26, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. He also won the NCAA title in the 200 yard breaststroke where he swam a personal best time of 1:49.02 to achieve the first NCAA men's title in the event for the University of Minnesota."Gophers Swimming: Max McHugh is a NCAA Champion!—AGAIN"
''The Daily Gopher''. March 26, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022.Ross, Andy (March 27, 2021)
"Max McHugh Upsets Reece Whitley in 200 Distance to Sweep NCAA Breaststroke Titles"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved January 30, 2022."Sturgeon Bay's McHugh celebrates 2 NCAA swimming titles"
'' WBAY-TV''. March 31, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. His performances earned him the Big Ten Conference honor of "Swimmer of the Year"."Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue Earn Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Awards"
'' Big Ten Conference''. March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

2020 US Olympic Trials

At the 2020 US Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska, and postponed to June 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McHugh swam a 59.93 in the prelims heats of the 100 meter breaststroke and qualified for the semifinals ranking fourth.

USA Swimming USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the United States. It is charged with selecting the United States Olympic Swimming team and any other teams that officially represent the United States, as well as the overal ...

(June 13, 2021)
"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Breaststroke Heats Results Summary"
''

Omega Timing Omega SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland. Founded by Louis Brandt in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1848, the company formerly operated as ''La Generale Watch Co.'' until incorporating the name ''Omega'' in 1903, becoming ' ...

''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. In the semifinals later the same day, he lowered his time to a 59.68 and advanced ranking fifth to the final the following day.

(June 13, 2021)
"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Breaststroke Semifinals Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. His times from the prelims and semifinals were both personal best times."Gophers swimmer Max McHugh swims two personal-best times at U.S. Olympic swimmings trials"
''

''. June 13, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. For the final of the 100 meter breaststroke the next day, McHugh tied for seventh-place with a time of 1:00.56.

(June 14, 2021)
"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 100m Breaststroke Final Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. Two days later McHugh competed in the prelims heats of the 200 meter breaststroke where he placed 21st overall with a time of 2:13.97.

(June 16, 2021)
"2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wave II: Men's 200m Breaststroke Final Results Summary"
''

''. Retrieved January 30, 2022. For the 2021 year, his time of 59.68 seconds ranked him in the top 30 performers in the long course 100 meter breaststroke."World Rankings 2021: Men 100 Breaststroke Long Course Metres"
'' FINA''. February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.

2021–2022 collegiate season

McHugh earned the honor of being team captain for his senior year competing with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. In a meet against three other colleges in January 2022, McHugh won the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 50.58 seconds, which ranked him first overall in the NCAA for the season.Penland, Spencer (January 29, 2022)
"McHugh Clocks NCAA-Leading 50.58 100 Breast, 22.53 Relay Split On Friday Night"
''

''. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

2022 Big Ten Championships

In his first event of the 2022 Big Ten Conference Championships in February, the 4×50 yard medley relay, McHugh and his relay were disqualified in the final for more than one reaction time registering as negative in value, -0.01 seconds specifically.De George, Matthew (February 23, 2022)
"2022 Big Ten Men's Championships: Ohio State Starts with 200 Medley Record"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved February 23, 2022.Keith, Braden (February 23, 2022)
"2022 Big Ten Men's Swimming & Diving Championships: Day 1 Finals Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved February 23, 2022. The second day, he was declared a false start, a form of disqualification, in the prelims heats of the 50 yard freestyle and was disqualified in the 4×100 yard medley relay when a swimmer other than McHugh registered a negative reaction time, -0.10 seconds by the butterfly swimmer.Hy-Tek (February 24, 2022)
"2022 B1G Men's Swimming & Diving Championship: Meet Results"
''sidearmstats.com''. Retrieved February 24, 2022. Pre-relay disqualification, he split a 50.51 for the breaststroke leg of the relay, which was the fastest breaststroke split out of all the finals relays.Berman, Sarah (February 24, 2022)
"2022 Men's B1G Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved February 24, 2022. On day three, McHugh ranked third in the prelims heats of the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 52.06 seconds and advanced to the final.Miller, Nicole (February 25, 2022)
"2022 Men's Big Ten Championships: Day 3 Prelims Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved February 25, 2022. He won the final with a time of 50.67 seconds, breaking the pool record of 51.54 seconds set by Ian Finnerty in 2018.De George, Matthew (February 25, 2022)
"2022 Big Ten Men's Championships, Day 3 Finals: Alex Quach Breaks 45 in 100 Fly"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved February 25, 2022.Edmund, Emma (February 25, 2022)
"2022 Men's Big Ten Championships: Day 3 Finals Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved February 25, 2022. He swam a 1:52.92 in the prelims heats of the 200 yard breaststroke on the fourth day, qualifying ranked first for the final with a time 0.24 seconds ahead of second-ranked swimmer

Josh Matheny Josh Matheny (born October 16, 2002) is an American competitive swimmer specializing in breaststroke events. He is a world junior record holder in the 4×100 meter mixed medley relay. He won the gold medal and the national title in the 100 mete ...

.Pelshaw, Anya (February 26, 2022)
"2022 Men's Big Ten Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved February 26, 2022. Finishing the Championships with the 200 yard breaststroke, McHugh concluded his senior collegiate conference championships by defending his title in the event from the 2021 Championships, finishing first in 1:49.45 and 1.20 seconds ahead of second-place finisher and freshman Josh Matheny.De George, Matthew (February 26, 2022)
"2022 Big Ten Men's Championships: Brendan Burns Wins Twice as Indiana Seals Title"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved February 26, 2022.Keith, Braden (February 26, 2022)
"2022 Men's Big Ten Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved February 26, 2022. His time of 1:49.45 set a new Championships record, lowering the former record set by Ian Finnerty in 2019 with a 1:50.30 by 0.85 seconds.Pelshaw, Anya (February 26, 2022)
"Max McHugh Swims 1:49.45 200 Breast, B1G Meet Record"
''

''. Retrieved February 26, 2022. Following his performances, swimming news outlet ''

'' reported McHugh planned to compete for a fifth year in the collegiate system, the 2022–2023 season.Keith, Braden (February 28, 2022)
"NCAA Champion Max McHugh Plans To Use 5th Year Of Eligibility"
''

''. Retrieved February 28, 2022.

2022 NCAA Championships

On the third day of the 2022 NCAA Division I Championships in Atlanta in March, McHugh swam a personal best time of 49.95 seconds in the prelims heats of the 100 yard breaststroke, qualifying for the final ranking first, setting a new pool record, and becoming the second American to swim the event faster than 50.00 seconds, only after Ian Finnerty.Hamann, Michael (March 25, 2022)
"2022 NCAA Division I Men's Championships: Day 3 Prelim Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved March 25, 2022.D'Addona, Dan (March 25, 2022)
"2022 NCAA Men's Championships: Max McHugh Breaks 50 in 100 Breaststroke Prelims"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved March 25, 2022.Penland, Spencer (March 25, 2022)
"Max McHugh Blast 29.95 100 Breast In Prelims To Become 2nd Man Under 50 Seconds"
''

''. Retrieved March 25, 2022. He lowered his pool record with another personal best time in the final, winning the NCAA title with a 49.90.Rieder, David (March 25, 2022)
"NCAA Men's Championships: Max McHugh Hits 49.90 to Defend 100 Breast Title"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved March 25, 2022. On the fourth and final day, he ranked second across all prelims heats of the 200 yard breaststroke with a 1:50.31 and advanced to the evening final.Hamann, Michael (March 26, 2022)
"2022 M. NCAA Division I Championships: Day 4 Prelim Live Recap"
''

''. Retrieved March 26, 2022. In the 200 yard breaststroke final, he placed second with a personal best time of 1:48.76 behind

Léon Marchand Léon Marchand (born 17 May 2002) is a French swimmer. He is the European record holder in the long course 400 metre individual medley and the French record holder in the long course 200 metre individual medley, 200 metre butterfly and 200 met ...

.Rieder, David (March 26, 2022)
"NCAA Men's Championships: Leon Marchand Takes Down Max McHugh For 200 Breast National Title"
'' Swimming World''. Retrieved March 26, 2022.

2022–2023 collegiate season

At the final Last Chance Meet of his collegiate year, held in February 2023 of his fifth year, McHugh earned an NCAA 'B' cut time of 51.56 seconds in the 100 yard breaststroke."Minnesota Gophers: Weekend Recap"
''The Daily Gopher''. February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.

2023 Big Ten Championships

Approximately two weeks later, on the first day of the 2023 Big Ten Conference Championships, McHugh split a 22.57 for the breaststroke leg of the 4×50 yard medley relay to help place sixth in 1:24.21.Hy-Tek (February 22, 2023)
"Meet Results: B1G Men's Swimming & Diving Championship"
''sidearmstats.com''. Retrieved February 22, 2023."200 Medley Relay School Record Goes Down on Opening Night of Big Tens"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. February 22, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023. The relay's time lowered the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's swim program record in the event by 0.04 seconds. Improving relay placing to fourth in the final of the 4×100 yard medley relay the following day, he contributed a 50.61 for the breaststroke leg to a final mark of 3:07.01. The relay time registered as the fastest for the school in the NCAA season."Soloveychik Snags Silver on Day Two of Big Tens"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023. On the third evening, he won the gold medal in the 100 yard breaststroke in a

Canham Natatorium The Canham Natatorium is a swimming facility on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The facility is used by the Michigan Wolverines swimming and diving and women's water polo teams. History The Natatorium was completed in ...

record time of 50.80 seconds, finishing as the only swimmer faster than 51 seconds."McHugh Wins Fourth Straight 100 Breast Crown"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023. With his win he became the second man in the history of the Big Ten Conference to win four-consecutive titles in the 100 yard breaststroke, after Ian Finnerty."Gophers swimmer Max McHugh wins 100-yard breaststroke in Big Ten meet for fourth time"
''

''. February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023. The final day, he won his third-consecutive title in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:50.20, marking the third-consecutive year he won all the individual breaststroke events at the Men's Big Ten Conference Championships and setting a new school program record for the total number of individual conference titles won by any one male Golden Gophers swimmer over the course of their collegiate career at seven titles, which increased the record count by one from the previous record of six titles set in the 1960's by Steve Jackman."McHugh Sweeps B1G Breaststroke Titles For Third Year in a Row"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.

2023 NCAA Championships

In March, at the 2023 NCAA Division I Championships hosted by his school, McHugh improved upon his split time in the 4×50 yard medley relay from the 2023 Big Ten Championships, lowering his time to a 22.39 to help place nineteenth overall with a time of 1:23.43.Hy-Tek (March 22, 2023)
"Meet Results: 2023 NCAA DI Men's Swimming & Diving"
''swimmeetresults.tech''. Retrieved March 22, 2023."Gophers Open NCAA Championships in Record-Setting Fashion"
'' Minnesota Golden Gophers''. March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 22, 2023. The relay time of 1:23.42 set a new program record and his split time of 22.39 briefly ranked as the fastest in NCAA history before being overtaken by Léon Marchand with a 22.27 in a later finals heat.

Personal best times

Long course meters (50 m pool)

Short course yards (25 yd pool)

Awards and honors

* Big Ten Conference, Swimmer of the Year (Men's): 2021 * ''

'', Swim of the Week: January 29, 2021Anderson, Jared (January 29, 2021)
"Swim of the Week: Max McHugh's 22.6/50.6 Breaststroke Combo"
''

''. March 30, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. * Big Ten Conference, Swimmer of the Week (Men's): December 11, 2019,"Michigan, Minnesota and Penn State Earn Men's Swimming and Diving Weekly Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. December 11, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. January 27, 2021,"Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin Earn Weekly Swimming and Diving Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. January 27, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. February 10, 2021,"Minnesota and Wisconsin Earn Weekly Swimming and Diving Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. February 10, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. December 8, 2021,"Big Ten Announces Weekly Swimming and Diving Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. December 8, 2021. Retrieved January 30, 2022. February 2, 2022"Big Ten Announces Weekly Swimming and Diving Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. February 2, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2022. * Big Ten Conference, Freshman of the Week (Men's): January 16, 2019,"Minnesota and Purdue Earn Men's Swimming and Diving Weekly Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2022. January 23, 2019,"Indiana and Minnesota Earn Men's Swimming and Diving Weekly Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2022. February 6, 2019"Indiana and Minnesota Earn Men's Swimming and Diving Weekly Honors"
'' Big Ten Conference''. February 6, 2019. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McHugh, Max 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Wisconsin People from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin American male breaststroke swimmers Minnesota Golden Gophers men's swimmers