Gophers swimmer Max McHugh swims two personal-best times at U.S. Olympic swimming trials

OMAHA – Gophers swimmer Max McHugh, who won both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke at last spring's NCAA championships, swam a pair of personal bests Sunday to advance to the final in the men's 100 breaststroke.

McHugh, who will be a senior next season, had the fourth-fastest time in the morning preliminaries (59.93 seconds). He lowered that in Sunday evening's semifinals, finishing in 59.68.

McHugh's time was the fifth-fastest of the semis, which were dominated by Michael Andrew's American-record time of 58.14.

Andrew saw room for more.

"There's a lot left in the tank," he said. "Maybe with the lights and cameras, I tried too hard going home. Hopefully I can fix that tomorrow."

The finals of the men's 100 breaststroke are Monday night.

Michael Phelps, winner of 23 Olympic gold medals, is retired, but he made an impact anyway at the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.

A masked-up Phelps cheered from the socially distanced stands as his former training partner at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, Chase Kalisz, won the 400 individual medley Sunday.

"Michael is very supportive," Kalisz said. "… Michael has been an older brother to me in my life. I remember interacting with Michael when I was 6 years old — and here we are 21 years later."

Phelps was impressed with Kalisz's performance.

"His back half was great," Phelps said. "I thought maybe he would go a touch faster. But he's right there."