Over the past year, a central storyline has defined every USC athletic season: How will the Trojans handle moving to the Big Ten?

For women’s swim and dive, at least, the move doesn’t seem like much of an issue.

The No. 12 Trojans finished fifth at the Big Ten Championships last week, their first conference championship meet since leaving the Pacific-12. USC scored a total of 835 points to place ahead of nine other teams, including crosstown rival and fellow Big Ten newcomer No. 23 UCLA.

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“The [Big Ten] meet atmosphere was a lot more electric,” said Head Coach Lea Maurer in an interview with the Daily Trojan on Saturday. “The depth of the competition, the festivities and the energy, that was definitely at a level maybe even higher than what we’ll experience at NCAAs.”

Before the meet even began, it seemed destined to be a three-team race between No. 14 Ohio State, No. 10 Michigan and No. 7 Indiana — these programs have made up the top three, in some order, of every Big Ten championship since 2018. USC battled for fourth place with No. 13 Wisconsin, exchanging spots in the rankings throughout the week, before falling to fifth by a mere 14 points.

“There’s so many swims and so many points, and it just always feels like it comes down to these moments,” Maurer said. “But that’s the best part about the sport. Every dive, every swim, every point from first to 24th, they add up.”

Many of USC’s points came from its five relays, as the Trojans finished in the top four of all of their team events. The Trojan teams finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay as well as the 200 and 400 medley relays, while they took third in the 400 and 800 free relays.

Graduate swimmer Caroline Famous, who swam in four of the Trojans’ relays, also took home top-eight finishes in the 50 free, 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. Famous and the Trojans hadn’t faced many of the teams in the Big Ten until this meet, but Maurer’s squad seemed to thrive in the high-pressure environment.

“It was the first time racing a lot of different people, which was cool, and it also gives you the experience to race really, really, really fast swimmers and put up some competition,” Famous said. “It was really nice to be in that same atmosphere, very intense, very competitive, but also rewarding.”

Graduate swimmer Kaitlyn Dobler, a seven-time individual Pac-12 champion, took home first place in the 100 breaststroke to give USC its first gold medal in the Big Ten. Dobler followed it up the next day with another win in the 200 breaststroke, a tie with Indiana senior Brearna Crawford. Dobler’s dominant week earned her a spot on the All-Big Ten First Team.

“It was great to be able to win in another conference,” Dobler said. “I was really happy to be able to do that with the team, and really just grateful for the fifth year and the opportunity to try out the new conference … It’s been really great to be able to represent USC.”

The Trojans got plenty of help from their younger swimmers as well. Sophomore Minna Abraham, named the Pac-12 Freshman Swimmer of the Year in 2024, took home second place in both the 100 and 200 free, the latter of which was the third-fastest time in the meet’s history. Junior Claire Tuggle took home second in the 500 free and eighth in the 1650 — an event she didn’t even have a time on record for entering the race. After the meet, Abraham and Tuggle were both named to the All-Big Ten Second Team.

In addition to swimming, USC excelled in diving competitions. Freshman diver Kate Miller, who competed in the Paris Olympics, finished in the top eight of all three diving events and was named to the All-Freshman Team. Senior diver Grace Lee also picked up points in the 1-meter and platform events, finishing 24th and 16th, respectively.

The Trojans now look ahead to the NCAA Championships, where they took home eighth place last year. Famous and Dobler said that they’re looking forward to having more time to prepare for the season’s grand finale, as the Big Ten Championships were held earlier than the Pac-12 Championships used to take place.

“We have a little bit more time to build up some more training and then really start tapering and resting,” Famous said. “I know I’m training hard, I know I’m working hard, I know my teammates have my back, so [I’m] just making sure that I’m ready to go and confident.”

The Trojans will have nearly a month to prepare for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held from March 19 to 22 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.