2026 Women’s Big Ten Championships Fan Guide: Tight Battle Brewing For Top Spot ...Middle East

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

Big Ten Conference – Women

Event Schedule

Wednesday (2/18)

Thursday (2/19)

Friday (2/20)

Saturday (2/21)

2025 Final Team Scores

For the last few years, the women’s Big Ten Championships has been one of the most exciting conference meets in college swimming. In 2024, the meet came down to just one point between Indiana and Ohio State with the Hoosiers taking the top time. In 2025, Ohio State took their title back by 58 points.

Indiana finished 2nd with 1255.5 points and Michigan was 3rd with 1149.5. This year, the meet is shaping up to be another close one with reigning champions Ohio State trying their best to hold off strong additions to the Indiana and Michigan programs.

Illinois – Kayla Duran (Sophomore- breast), Sara Jass (Senior – breast/IM), Liv Dorshot (Junior – distance)

Illinois returns their 2nd and 3rd scorers from last year in sophomore Kayla Duran and senior Sara Jass. Duran scored 15 points with her 12th place finish in the 100 breast, and this year, she has the 16th fastest time in the conference this season at 1:00.81. This is about four tenths off her lifetime best of 1:00.39 from this meet last year, which would rank 9th.

Sara Jass scored 6 points last year after finishing 24th in the 200 IM and 20th in the 400 IM. She is geared to massively outperform that total this year, coming in as the 16th seed in the 200 IM (1:58.66), the 22nd seed in the 200 breast (2:12.90), and the 24th seed in the 400 IM (4:15.46). She has faster lifetime bests in both the IM events, and could end up in two ‘B’ finals for her final season.

Junior Liv Dorshot’s highest finish last year came from her 29th in the 1650 free (16:47.35). This year, she is seeded 22nd in the event with the 16:44.87 she swam at the Iowa Invitational.

Indiana – Miranda Grana (Junior – fly/back), Liberty Clark (Freshman – free/IM), Alex Shackell (Freshman – free), Ella Roselli (Sophomore – diving)

The Indiana Hoosiers have received a few huge additions this season, but they also return some of their top scorers from last season including #1 point scorer Miranda Grana. At last year’s meet, Grana won the 100 fly and finished 2nd in the 100 back and 200 back. This year, she broke 50 seconds in both 100s for the first time and has the 2nd fastest time in the Big Ten in the 100 back (49.89) and 200 back (1:49.06), and the top 100 fly time (49.98). She has steep competition in all three events, but should score major points for Indiana as an ‘A’ finalist in all three.

Liberty Clark has had an explosive freshman season at Indiana, and she is a potential ‘A’ finalist in three different events. She is coming into conference ranked 2nd in the 50 free (21.48), 1st in the 100 free (46.36), 3rd in the 200 free (1:40.47), and 5th in the 200 IM (1:55.86).

Another freshman Alex Shackell has only swum a few meets for Indiana, but she is another major point threat. She currently ranks 10th in the 200 free (1:44.19), tied for 2nd in the 100 fly (50.98), and 2nd in the 200 fly (1:52.98). She has not swum the 50 free in college yet, but her lifetime best of 21.71 would rank 5th in the conference.

Indiana also has a very strong diving program, and junior diver Ella Roselli is back for the Hoosiers after scoring 67 points in the diving events last year.

Iowa – Olivia Swalley (Junior – IM/breast), Hope Schimming (Junior – IM/back), Payton Flowers (Freshman – free)

Iowa had two swimmers score individual points last year, and both are back this season. Junior Olivia Swalley brought in 15 points after she finished 12th in the 400 IM (4:10.91). This year, she is looking to potentially score in all three of her events. She currently ranks 12th in the 200 IM (1:58.09), 11th in the 400 IM (4:11.23), and 30th in the 200 breast (2:14.05)

Hope Schimming was their other individual point scorer, with 1.5 points from her tie for 23rd in the 200 backstroke. Schimming has been slightly off this season, with her season best times coming in at 2:02.84 and 56.11, but she did not swim a midseason meet, and if she is able to drop back down, she could be another scorer.

Freshman Payton Flowers has made an impact on the Iowa team already, and she is the fastest 50 freestyler on the team right now. On top of the massive relay duties that will give her, her time of 22.38 is ranked 22nd in the conference.

Michigan – Bella Sims (Junior – free/back/IM), Hannah Bellard (Junior – fly/IM), Brady Kendall (Senior – free/fly), Letitia Sim (Junior – IM/breast)

There are a ton of Michigan swimmers that could walk home with conference titles or with 50+ points, but this section would be 10 pages long if we listed all of them. The Wolverines got a massive boost coming into this season in the form of Junior transfer Bella Sims, who came from Florida. Sims is a two-time NCAA Champion, and she is coming off two silver medals from last year.

We do not know what Sims is swimming yet. She is currently in the top 8 in the conference in the 100 free (2nd – 46.96), 200 free (2nd – 1:41.17), 500 free (7th – 4:39.76), 100 back (1st – 49.17), 200 back (3rd – 1:51.26), 200 fly (5th – 1:55.01), 200 IM (2nd – 1:54.59), and 400 IM (3:58.02). No matter what she races, she will be a near lock for the ‘A’ final and a huge podium favorite.

Fellow junior Hannah Bellard has had an electric 2nd half of her season, including a massive 200 fly swim of 1:50.72 to set a new Big Ten record in the event. She leads the conference by more than two seconds and is the heavy favorite to win the title there. She also sits at 6th in the 100 fly (51.40), and ranked 3rd in the 400 IM (4:05.92).

Letitia Sim was Michigan’s highest point scorer last year with 83 points from two 2nd place finishes in the 200 IM and 100 breast. This year, she is seeded 2nd in the 100 breast (58.12), 1st in the 200 breast (2:06.52), and 4th in the 200 IM (1:55.78) as she looks to improve her performances from last season.

Brady Kendall scored 82 points last season, and she currently has the top time in the Big Ten in the 50 free (21.34), and she ranks 11th in the 100 free (48.07) and tied for 2nd in the 100 fly with Alex Shackell (50.98).

Minnesota – Vivi Del Angel (Senior – diving), Ava Yablonski (Senior – back/fly), Livi Wanner (Sophomore – free), Katie McCarthy (Junior – free/IM)

For the 3rd year in a row, Senior diver Vivi Del Angel is likely to be Minnesota’s biggest point scorer again in 2026. She scored 72.5 points in 2025, 20 more points than anyone else, and she will be a serious threat for the ‘A’ final in all three events this season.

Senior backstroker Ava Yablonski was Minnesota’s highest scoring swimmer last year, but she has not replicated that same success so far this season. She comes into the meet with season best times of 52.76 in the 100 back, 53.42 in the 100 fly, and 1:57.12 in the 200 back after earning finals swims in all three events last season, and a 6th place finish in the 100 back. She will be bolstered by teammates Kamdyn Periat in the 100 back (17th rank – 52.75), Mira Keller in the 200 back (1:56.85), and Morgan Thomas in the 100 fly (10th rank – 52.21). If she can get back to her 2025 speed, she will be a serious point threat in all three events.

Katie McCarthy is another potentially high point scorer. Last year, she brought in 46 points for three top-16 finishes in the 500 free, 400 IM, and 1650 free. So far this season, she ranks 19th in the 500 (4:45.12), 8th in the 1650 free (16:14.02), 17th in the 200 IM (1:58.91), and 9th in the 400 IM (4:10.85)

Nebraska – Gena Jorgenson (Senior – free/IM), Abigail Baxter (Junior – diving), Beatrix Tanko (Junior – free/fly)

Nebraska’s top scorer Gena Jorgenson returns this year, and she will be looking to improve her 50 points from the 2025 championships. Her highest ranking comes in the 1650 freestyle, where she sits in 3rd in the conference with her 16:00.61. She also ranks 8th in the 500 free (4:40.29), and 20th in the 400 IM (4:14.40). She missed out on the 400 IM final last year, finishing 25th, but three finals swims would make a massive dent in Nebraska’s point totals.

Their next highest returning scorer is junior diver Abigail Baxter. Last season, she scored 16 points, picking up a 17th in the 1-Meter and 18th in the 3-Meter. Baxter dove well at the Hawkeye Invitational, finishing 3rd in the 1-Meter and the 3-Meter.

Fellow junior Beatrix Tanko has exploded this season, after earning three final swims last season, finishing 20th in the 50 free, 18th in the 100 fly, and 22nd in the 100 free. This year, she has set new personal bests in all three events, and is looking to score a lot more points. She currently ranks 12th in the 50 free (22.17), 19th in the 100 free (48.75), and 8th in the 100 fly (52.03). She will be hoping to earn her first conference ‘A’ final swim in the 100 fly, which is a little earlier in the meet now.

Northwestern – Zoe Nordmann (Sophomore – free), Kat Nikonova (Grad Student – free/fly), Maggie Papanicholas (Junior – breast)

Sophomore Zoe Nordmann scored 27 points at last year’s Big Ten Championships after finishing 13th in the 500 free and 14th in the 1650. She currently sits in 10th in the 500 free (4:41.11), and 4th in the 1650 free (16:04.59), both swims were new season best times.

Kat Nikonova transferred to Northwestern after spending the first three years of her college career at Florida. She is looking to be one of the top scorers for the team, currently seeded to final in all three events. She ranks 15th in the 100 free (48.54), 18th in the 200 free (1:45.51), and 12th in the 100 fly (52.50).

Finally, junior Maggie Papanicholas has also had a strong season for the team, and after scoring 21 points in 2025, she is seeded to improve that total this year as she tries to earn an ‘A’ finals finish. She holds the 11th fastest 100 breaststroke time (1:00.56) and the 14th fastest 200 breast time (2:11.60) in the Big Ten.

Ohio State – Krista Marlin (Senior – backstroke/IM), Paige Delma (Junior – Breast/IM), Emma Finlin (Sophomore – distance free), Rachel Bockrath (Sophomore – free)

Last year’s champions Ohio State did not lose an exceptional number of seniors after last season, and will return 672 of their 1313.5 points. Just like Michigan, they have a lot of potential 50+ point scorers, but we tried to narrow it down.

Their top scorer Krista Marlin returns for the Buckeyes after scoring 78 points last year with three top-5 finishes. This season she has only swum two meets for Ohio State, both in the 2nd semester and has only raced the 200 backstroke and 400 IM once and the 200 IM twice. If she is able to return to her form from last season, she should be a major scorer again this year, though she will have to face the 200 back/200 IM conflict on the final day.

Sophomore Rachel Bockrath had a very strong freshman campaign for Ohio State, earning two ‘A’ finals swims and a 9th place finish. This year, she is shaping up to have an even stronger year, and she is coming into the meet ranked 14th in the 50 free (22.19), 5th in the 200 free (1:42.92), and 5th in the 100 free (47.27).

Emma Finlin is another sophomore who is looking to have a huge improvement this year. At last year’s championships, she was marked exhibition, and was unable to score, despite setting times in the 500 free and 1650 that would have finished in the top 16. This year, she will almost certainly be a scorer as the top miler in the conference currently with her 15:55.09 from the Ohio State Invite. She is also a potential scorer in the 500 free, where she ranks 11th with her 4:42.70 and in the 400 IM, where she sits in 13th with her 4:11.63. She comes in just ahead of teammate Mila Nikanorov in the 1650 (15:57.83), but Nikanorov holds a higher seed in the 500 free, sitting 3rd (4:36.97).

The Swimulator has junior Paige Delma as the highest scoring swimmer for the Buckeyes this year with 70 points. She is looking at three ‘A’ finals swims this season, coming in ranked 8th in the 100 breast (1:00.28), 8th in the 200 IM (1:57.07), and 6th in the 400 IM (4:07.99)

Penn State – Margaret Markvardt (Grad Student – fly/back/IM), Morgan Moore (Senior – distance), Catherine Meisner (Senior – free/IM)

Margaret Markvardt seems to be in her final year at Penn State, and she is looking like she will be their top point scorer again this season. After starting college in 2019, she received a Covid 5th year and has taken two redshirt years, giving her a final year of eligibility this season. She currently is ranked to score in the 100 fly (15th – 52.68) and 200 IM (14th – 1:58.28), and she sits near scoring in the 100 back (25th – 53.12), but will likely be in scoring position once people choose their events.

Senior distance swimmer Morgan Moore is currently seeded 12th in the 1650 with her 16:28.37 from the Ohio State Invite. Last year, she brought in six points after finishing 20th in the event in 16:27.96, and she is three seconds faster than she was at this point last season, coming into the 2025 Big Tens at 16:31.17.

Catherine Meisner was the 2nd highest point scorer for the Penn State team last year, bringing in 21 points with finals swims in the 200 free and 100 free. She has been a little off her best times this season, but her swims are pretty much in line with where she was at this point last year. She is coming in ranked 32nd in the 200 free (1:46.36) and 35th in the 200 IM (2:00.51) which are both in the range to end up as scoring swims pending event choices.

Purdue – Daryn Wright (Senior – diver), Abby Marcukaitis (Senior – back), Avery Worobel (Sophomore – diver), Caitlin Hurley (Junior – distance)

Purdue is one of the programs at this meet that benefits the most from their diving program. At last year’s Big Ten Championships, their top four point scorers were all divers, and they are bringing back the top two this season in senior Daryn Wright and Sophomore Avery Worobel.

Abby Marcukaitis was tied for their highest swimming point scorer with Campbell Scofield last year, both bringing in 23 points. Marcukaitis won the 100 back ‘C’ final) and finished 13th in the 200 back last year, and this year, she is looking to convert those swims into ‘B’ finals finishes. So far this season, she ranks 16th in the 100 back (52.73) and 12th in the 200 back (1:54.70). Both swims are faster than she swam in the Big Ten finals last year.

Junior Caitlin Hurley has had a huge year for the Boilermakers, and after scoring zero points as a sophomore, she is currently projected to score in all three of her individual events by the Swimulator. She ranks 29th in the 200 free (1:46.29), 17th in the 500 free (4:44.56), and 16th in the 1650 free (16:31.27).

Rutgers – Anna Vlachou (Junior – free/fly), Bailee Sturgill (Sophomore – diving), Katerina Hoffman (Sophomore – diving), Emilianna Gonzalez (Freshman – free)

Rutgers got a huge boost this season from Nebraska transfer Anna Vlachou, who came in as a junior and is projected to be Rutgers’ highest individual point scorer. She currently ranks 35th in the 50 free (22.67), 31st in the 100 free (49.20), and 21st in the 100 fly (53.14). Her 50 and 100 freestyle were new best times and her 100 fly is just off the 52.83 she swam to finish 19th in 2025.

The Rutgers team also has a huge diving program that will account for a significant number of individual points at the meet. Sophomore duo Bailee Sturgill and Katerina Hoffman are the highest returning point scorers for the Rutgers team, with Sturgill bringing in 45 points and Hoffman scoring 33. Sturgill earned two ‘A’ finals finishes in the 1 meter and platform events, but finished 43rd in the 3-meter after struggling in the event. She went on to qualify for NCAAs in all three events and will be looking to score in all three this year.

Freshman Emilianna Gonzalez is a sprint freestyler who will be huge on Rutgers’ relays. Her season best 50 free time of 22.40, from the 2025 Winter Juniors, ranks 24th in the event, putting her just in scoring position as a freshman.

UCLA – Rosie Murphy (Senior – back/IM), Jada Duncan (Freshman – free/fly), Sarah Bennetts (Junior – breast/free)

The UCLA Bruins lost their top two scorers to graduation after last season, but they retained their 3rd scorer Rosie Murphy, who is currently seeded to earn three ‘A’ finals finishes across her three events. She currently ranks 4th in the 200 back (1:51.59), 3rd in the 200 IM (1:54.89), and 4th in the 400 IM (4:06.08). Her highest finish last season came from a 10th in the 200 IM (1:56.66), and this season she is a potential top-three finisher in three individual events. Due to the 200 back/200 IM conflict in the final session, she will likely change one of her events. She ranks 10th in the 100 back (52.46) which is her most likely choice for her next event.

Freshman Jada Duncan has made a huge impact on the UCLA team in just a few months, and one of her biggest contributions will be on the Bruin relays. She currently sits 6th in the conference in the 50 free (21.98), 12th in the 100 free (48.29), and 4th in the 100 fly (51.06). On top of being a potential ‘A’ finalist in three different events, she will likely appear on all the Bruin shorter relays, providing a crucial boost to the team

Junior Sarah Bennetts scored just 11 points last season, but she is on track to significantly improve that score this year. In the 100 breast, she currently has the 6th fastest time in the Big Ten, coming in at 59.86, and in the 200 breast, she ranks 8th in 2:10.23.

USC – Justina Kozan (Senior -fly/IM), Claire Tuggle (Senior – free/IM), Ashley McMillan (Junior – breast/IM)

The Trojans were hit with a massive setback when one of their top swimmers, Minna Abraham, announced she would not be traveling with the team to the Big Ten Championships due to “personal reasons”. This will be a blow to their individual and relay point total with Abraham projected to score 84 points at the meet.

The USC women’s team has a plethora of IMers with many of their top scorers seeded highly in at least one of the two IM events, or coming in with times that would put them in scoring position.

Justina Kozan is the top IMer on the team, coming in as the top seed in the 200 IM (1:54.32), the 2nd seed in the 400 IM (4:05.08), and the 4th seed in the 200 fly (1:53.73). She will be another swimmer with the IM/200 of stroke conflict, but at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite, she swam the 500 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM, which could be a clue for her events this week.

Senior Claire Tuggle is headed into her final Big Ten Championships with the Trojans, and she is coming off a massive junior year that saw her score 70 points. She is currently projected to score 69 points, coming in ranked 6th in the 200 free (1:43.65), 1st in the 500 free (4:35.42), and 18th in the 1650 free (16:34.79). Her 200 and 500 free were both lifetime bests, but her 1650 was about 30 seconds off her 16:03.08 from last year’s Big Tens. She could also swim the 400 IM instead of the 200 free with a lifetime best 4:07.89 from last year.

Ashley McMillan is a junior this year, and is coming off 62 Big Ten points from 2025. She is filling the large shoes left in the breaststroke events by Kaitlyn Dobler’s graduation. She currently sits as the 3rd seed in the 100 breast (59.64), 6th seed in the 200 breast (2:09.11), and the 6th seed in the 200 IM (1:56.34).

USC also has Kate Miller back this year, after she scored 69 points on the diving boards in 2025 as a freshman.

Wisconsin – Maggie Wanezek (Sophomore – back/free/IM), Brooke Corrigan (Freshman – breast), Abby Wanezek (Senior – free), Stella Chapman (Sophomore – fly/IM)

We have talked a lot about the Wisconsin Badgers, who seemed to be in a rough spot after they lost Phoebe Bacon, who scored a perfect 96 points at the 2025 Big Ten Championships. They got a new head coach to start the season, and they have been absolutely on fire.

Sophomore Maggie Wanezek has been one of Wisconsin’s stars this season, and she will likely massively increase her 48.5 points from her freshman season. She is coming into the meet as the 3rd seed in the 100 back (49.95), the top seed in the 200 back (1:48.39), and the 7th ranked swimmer in the 200 IM (1:56.74). Just like a few of the other swimmers we have talked about, there is a new conflict in the 200 back and 200 IM events, so Wanezek could swim something else.

Her sister Abby Wanezek has also exploded this year, and is looking at multiple ‘A’ finals swims after scoring 38 points last year with a highest finish of 14th. She currently ranks 11th in the 50 free (22.14), 7th in the 100 free (47.69), and 8th in the 200 free (1:43.74).

The Wisconsin breaststroke group got a major boost this year from a few newcomers including Brooke Corrigan and Justine Delmas. Corrigan is currently seeded to earn two ‘A’ finals swims ranking 4th in the 100 breast (59.71) and 3rd in the 200 breast (2:08.63).

Sophomore Stella Chapman has also seen significant improvements this year, and she could swim a few different events at Big Tens. She currently ranks 18th in the 200 breast, 9th in the 200 fly (1:56.65), 9th in the 200 IM (1:57.41), and 8th in the 400 IM (4:10.41). Even if she only makes one event final, she will likely massively improve her 4 points from last year.

Races to Watch

200 Fly

Coming into this season, Alex Shackell seemed to be the clear favorite to win the 200 fly title at the Big Ten Championships, but Michigan’s Hannah Bellard threw a wrench in that idea when she set the Big Ten record in the event at Shackell’s NCAA debut meet, touching in 1:50.72 to beat Shackell by more than two seconds. Shackell currently sits 2nd at 1:52.98, but she has a lifetime best of 1:50.15 from December of 2023. This could be one of the most exciting races of the meet, especially when considering that it is on the last day and Michigan and Indiana will likely both be in contention for overall title.

100 Back

Three Big Ten women have been under 50 seconds in the 100 backstroke this season. Michigan’s Bella Sims holds the top time at 49.17, and is the favorite for the win as the NCAA runner-up in the event from last season. She sits just over seven tenths ahead of Indiana’s Miranda Grana in 2nd with her 49.89 from the Ohio State Invite while Wisconsin’s Maggie Wanezek is just six hundredths back of Grana in 49.95. Last year, nobody broke 50 seconds in the event final.

100 Breast

Ohio State and Michigan will be battling all weekend, but the first day of the meet will see what is looking like one of the closest races between the two teams. Ohio State’s Maria Ramos Najji currently holds the top seed in the 100 breast in 58.00, which is her lifetime best. Letitia Sim, from Michigan, is seeded 2nd in her lifetime best of 58.12, just over a tenth back. The next fastest breaststroker is USC’s McMillan at 59.64, a second-and-a-half behind the top two.

SwimSwam’s Predictions

The battle for the top is going to be tight and it is going to be exciting. The Ohio State women are the reigning champions, and they are going to be hungry for a repeat, but the depth of the Michigan women’s roster seems like too much to overcome.

The last two years, the score of this meet has seen huge changes based on relay DQs, and with tensions high as multiple teams battle for the top spot, we could see the same thing again this year.

Indiana and Ohio State currently sit just one point apart in the Swimulator, which does not include diving and allows athletes to swim all five relays. Diving will make a huge difference in scores, but Ohio State and Indiana had similar diving scores last year.

Wisconsin seems pretty solidly in 4th, though major DQs could move them up the rankings, while USC will have to fight to stay ahead of UCLA with the loss of Abraham.

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