Minnesota senior Conner McHugh gave the home crowd something special to cheer for at last week’s 2018 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, hosted by the University of Minnesota.
McHugh placed 4th in the 200 breaststroke in a time of 1:52.00, and 5th in the 100 breast with a 51.48. The 100 comes as a new school record, but how long the record will stand is anybody’s guess.
Max McHugh, SwimSwam’s #5 male recruit for the class of 2018 and Minnesota class of 2022 commit is currently ranked #4 all-time in the men’s 17-18 age group in the 100 breast with a time of 51.62. The younger McHugh has also split a 22.69 in the 50 breast in the 200 medley relay and holds the National Public High School Record in the 100 breast (51.62).
Though Conner McHugh‘s college career has come to an end, he is dedicated to swimming through to 2020 and vying for a spot on Team USA’s 2020 Olympic Team. Minnesota–and the Big Ten in general–is one of the strongest conferences in the country for breaststroke talent. Aside from McHugh, the Big Ten is home to two-time individual NCAA champion and first-man-under-50 in the 100 breaststroke Ian Finnerty of Indiana, and NCAA finalists Levi Brock (Indiana) and Jacob Montague (Michigan), and that’s just on the men’s side. Lilly King (Indiana), Miranda Tucker (Michigan), Jing En Phee (Purdue), and Minnesota’s very own Lindsay Kozelsky and Canadian pro Kierra Smith highlight the B1G women breaststroke contingent.
