Maggie Johnson (Photo: Courtesy of Maggie Johnson and Julia Cohen. Illustration: Magali Gruet)
May 10, 2025, Indianapolis. The stakes couldn’t be any higher.
That day, USC and UCLA, two of the sport’s fiercest rivals, met in the NCAA national women’s water polo semifinals. The winner would advance to the championship game; The loser would go home. For USC, the game carried added urgency. Earlier in the season, the Trojans had let a matchup against UCLA slip away after giving up a long scoring run. This was their chance to respond.
Team co-captain Maggie Johnson played a central role in making sure they did.
In the first quarter, Johnson set up a goal to tie the game. Later, she sparked a counterattack with a steal and another assist. Late in the third quarter, she found space and scored, part of a decisive USC surge that turned the game. The Trojans went on to win 15-13 and advance to the national championship.
“We were making extra passes and playing with just such joy,” said Johnson, a senior in the USC Viterbi Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering and recipient of multiple all-academic honors. “That was a great day.”
She had an even better one on April 26, 2026. On that Sunday, the USC women’s water polo team won its 8th NCAA National Championship, beating Cal 10-9 in Johnson’s hometown of La Jolla. She had three assists.
“It was magical,” Johnson said.
A Leader, Not a Stat Line
Johnson’s value to USC’s women’s water polo team is not measured by goals scored. Her role is to connect the pieces; to keep possessions alive, to lead.
“I love to set my teammates up to score and play solid defense,” she said. “It takes the whole team to win at the end of the day.”
Johnson was voted team captain as a sophomore, only the third player in program history to earn that distinction. She was selected again as a junior and senior, a reflection of the trust she built within the team.
“In my family, at the foundation of it all is leading by example,” she said. “You control your attitude, your effort, your approach every single day.”
Her influence shows up in habits rather than speeches. Johnson is consistent and visible in the way she approaches both training and competition.
In the pool, Johnson has been a steady force behind USC’s biggest moments. Outside of it, she has made a mark in the classroom and beyond, building a record of academic achievement and service that reflects a broader ambition: to make a difference in everything she does.
Built for Both Worlds
At USC, Johnson has built a life that demands excellence in two very different arenas.
A BME major, she has maintained a 3.63 GPA while earning recognition as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar.
Her ability to balance those demands helped her recently earn the Big Ten Wayne Duke Postgraduate Award, one of the conference’s most prestigious honors. The award recognizes a single male and female student-athlete each year for excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and service, and includes a $10,000 scholarship.
For Johnson, academics have been more than a requirement; They have been a source of growth.
“I’m so glad that I chose to major in biomedical engineering,” she said. “It’s exposed me to so many different things, and I think it’s pushed me in ways that I didn’t expect coming in.”
That growth has come through both coursework and experience. Her senior design project focused on developing an at-home melatonin detector, aimed at helping identify sleep issues earlier through accessible testing.
Beyond that, Johnson has sought out opportunities to apply what she is learning in real-world settings.
At Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, she worked last summer as a research intern, gaining exposure to clinical trials and patient-facing research while helping translate complex cardiology studies into more accessible formats.
Johnson also led a clinic improvement study for a military pediatric practice, using surveys and interviews to identify ways to improve efficiency and patient care.
Her internship with the USC Shoah Foundation added another dimension. As a student-athlete leader, she participated in immersive programs focused on historical understanding and moral responsibility, contributing to initiatives that encourage empathy and critical thinking around global issues.
Together, those experiences have shaped how she sees both her education and her future.
“I think USC has really allowed me to explore a lot of different interests,” she said. “I’ve been able to challenge myself academically but also find things that I’m passionate about outside the classroom.”
From San Diego to USC
Growing up in San Diego, she was drawn to the water and quickly found a sport that rewarded persistence and awareness as much as size.
“I vividly remember the first practice,” she said. “From there on, it was every single day I wanted to play,” she said.
At The Bishop’s School in La Jolla, she developed into one of the top players in the region. She was named CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year as both a junior and senior and helped lead her team to four consecutive championships.
Recruiters noticed.
USC, UCLA, Stanford, UC Berkeley and Michigan all pursued her. Ivy League schools like Harvard, Brown and Princeton also expressed interest.
The decision came down to something bigger than athletics.
“At USC, I knew that I could get a world-class education but also be able to play water polo at a really, really high level.”
Purpose Beyond the Pool
Johnson’s long-term goals reflect the environment she grew up in.
Her mother served more than 20 years in the Navy as a pediatrician, and her father worked in naval aviation and intelligence.
Their careers shaped Johnson’s interest in medicine and service.
Through her academic work and internships, she has set her sights on becoming a physician, with the goal of serving in the military.
At the same time, Johnson plans to continue playing water polo. She hopes to compete professionally in Australia while continuing medical research, extending both sides of her experience into the next phase of her life.
“I just really like the physicality of water polo and the team aspect of it,” she said. “I think that’s something that I’ll always want to be a part of, no matter what I’m doing. Being able to compete, to be part of a team, and to keep growing in different areas of my life, that’s what motivates me.”
Published on May 7th, 2026
Last updated on May 7th, 2026