Max McHugh Blasts 1:53.5 200 Breast at Y-Nats, 5th-Fastest 17-18 Ever

2018 YMCA SHORT COURSE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 3rd-7th, 2018
• Greensboro Aquatic Center, Greensboro, North Carolina
• Meet Central
• Live Stream (Finals)
• Meet Results
• Psych Sheet

University of Minnesota commit Max McHugh of Door County YMCA crushed it again tonight in the finals of the 200 breast, lowering his hours-old meet record set in the prelims from a 1:54.23 down to a blistering 1:53.59. Prior to this morning, the meet record stood at a 1:55.46, set last year by McHugh, and it improves upon his personal best of 1:55.38 from the Wisconsin Senior Champs in March of 2017.

1. Reece Whitley, 1:51.43
2. Andrew Seliskar, 1:51.57
3. Daniel Roy, 1:51.69
4. Kevin Cordes, 1:51.97
5. Max McHugh, 1:53.59

McHugh traded records with Cal Berkley commit Reece Whitley earlier this year in the 100 breast and turned heads when he split a 22.69 in the 50 breaststroke on his high school’s medley relay at his Wisconsin high school sectional meet. That split makes McHugh the 3rd-fastest performer ever at any level in the 50 breaststroke.

McHugh’s splits tonight, this morning, and from his previous best time are charted below.

Brendan Burns has also had an incredible meet so far, going 2-for-2 in each of his events and breaking Tim Phillips‘s meet record in the 100 fly. Phillips’s former meet record had stood at a 46.96, but Burns shaved another three tenths off that mark tonight, clocking a 46.61. Burns was out fast in a 21.88 and finished in a 24.73. What’s even more impressive is that Burns is only 16-years-old.

Prior to the finals of the 100 fly, Burns clocked a 1:42.17 to win the 200 backstroke by over 2 seconds. Burns also led off Upper Main Line YMCA’s 400 freestyle relay in a 44.16, and began the meet with a 21.72 backstroke split on the 200 medley relay. The team finished 2nd overall in a final time of 3:01.89. Somerset Hills YMCA won the race in a 3:00.37, establishing a new meet record.

Other noteworthy finals swims include:

• 15-year-old Jack Alexy of Somerset Hills YMCA began the session with a 21.81 lead-off leg in the 200 medley relay, then took 3rd in the 200 backstroke in 1:46.59, and finished the session with a blazing 43.16 anchor leg on the 400 freestyle relay, the only sub-44 split in the field, and one of only a handful under 45, helping his team establish a new meet record in a time of 3:00.37.
• Annika McEnroe from Spartanburg, South Carolina continued to impress in the 100 fly, dropping another three-tenths for a 2nd-place finish in 54.11. McEnroe obliterated her seed time in the 100 fly in prelims, dropping from a 56.83 down to a 54.43. McEnroe also dropped nearly 7 seconds in the prelims of the 200 breast to register a 2:14.73. Tonight she went 2:16.16 for a 7th-place finish.
• Charity Pittard of Boise, Idaho defended her top seed from this morning, clocking a nearly identical time of 2:13.42. Teammate Sammie Eyolfson took 2nd in 2:14.13. Hannah Owenby of Spartanburg took 4th in finals with a 2:15.10, but this morning she destroyed her best time of 2:17.01, stopping the clock at 2:13.85.
• Paige Hetrick won the women’s 200 backstroke by nearly 2-and-a-half seconds, finishing in 1:54.73. Hetrick entered the meet at 1:56.50. Silver went to Olivia Harper in 1:57.00, followed by top-seed Grace Kayal of Red Bank in 1:57.21, and then by her teammate Marie Schobel in 1:57.91.
• The women’s 200 medley relay was narrowly won by the Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA out of New Jersey in 1:42.70, getting the edge over Red Bank, which finished in 1:42.79. The Westport Westin YMCA out of Connecticut won the 400 freestyle relay in 3:23.23, and boasted the fastest split in the field with a 49.27 from 17-year-old Sarah Grinalds. Grinalds was the only sub-50 in the field, and one of only 6 under 51-seconds.