Notre Dame announced that they would be adding NCAA Champion and Minnesota alumnus Max McHugh to the coaching staff for the 2025-26 season.
McHugh swam collegiately at the University of Minnesota, where he won four NCAA titles in the breaststroke events. He won his first two titles in 2021 when he swept the 100 and 200. He went on to win the 100 again in 2022 and 2023.
He announced his retirement last September after finishing 26th in the 100 breast at the 2024 Olympic Trials, and he was soon hired at Colorado College in Colorado Springs as an assistant coach where he spent the last year.
Last season, the Colorado College men finished 1st and the women finished 2nd at the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships. Both the men’s and women’s 100 breastsroke events saw multiple swimmers participate in the ‘A’ final with the men taking 1st and 2nd in both and the women finishing 2nd in both events.
The Notre Dame women finished 12th out of 15 teams at last year’s ACCs, coming in about 100 points behind Duke. They retained their top 200 breaststroker Gigi Baldacci for the season on the women’s side. The men’s team was completely rebuilt after their suspension but they brought in two excellent freshman breaststrokers in Jack Armour and Maksim Manolov.
McHugh has two degrees from Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelors in Psychology in 2022 and a Masters of Education in Sports and Fitness Management and Administration in 2023.
He will join the Notre Dame team that is fully back this season after the men’s team served a suspension last year. They recently hired new head coach Michael Norment, and McHugh is his first hire in the role.
Let Mike Norment cook ! Go Irish☘️
Max “Zero Coaching Experience” McHugh.
Don’t give me that “well he’s not getting paid much” BS. Plenty of other coaches, with experience, would have loved to get this job.
Do those other coaches also happen to be one of the best SCY breaststrokers of all time?
Really? He appears to have some experience, and all that took was a quick google search of his name. This is a pretty entry level position, not sure what your beef is here. We all know that in this sport, experience as an athlete at a high level is also looked on favorably.
https://cctigers.com/news/2024/9/5/mens-swimming-diving-max-mchugh-named-assistant-swimming-coach.aspx
https://swimswam.com/max-mchugh-hired-as-part-time-assistant-for-st-thomas-mn-will-still-train-for-trials/
This isn’t one of those hires
The article literally states he worked as an Assistant Coach at another school over the past year…
Did they apply? Are you aware of other people that got passed? Or are you just making things up on the internet?
If I’m a breaststroker at ND, I would much rather take breaststroke advice from a guy who goes 49 than someone with a few years more coaching experience
ok hold on there
Is Kelsi Dahlia coaching anywhere?
Maybe just doing clinics for now.