Madison Wilson is an Australian swimmer and freestyle specialist. She is a 2x Olympian and 2x Olympic champion in the 4×100 free relay.
Early career
Wilson really popped onto the swimming scene in 2014, and has been finishing within the year’s top-10 fastest swimmers since. In her first year of headline-making performances, Wilson qualified for the 2012 Junior Pan Pacs in the 100m backstroke. Within the next few years she competed at the Australian Championships, finishing within the top swimmers.
2013
After her beginning performances, Wilson made big steps in 2013. She competed at the World University Games, where she won the 200m backstroke and finished third overall in the 100m backstroke.
Swimming motivation
Wilson began swimming at a young age, because her grandparents owned a swimming pool, and she needed to be comfortable around a pool. She also sets goals at the beginning of each season, which motivates her to keep focusing on getting better.
Training
Wilson has mentioned that she incorporates running into her training regimen, which doesn’t enjoy, but she knows it’s a great exercise. She also enjoys her Friday sessions, because they involve a lot of sprint training. Wilson loves training at her home pool in Indooroopilly Brisbane, where she feels the most comfortable.
Commonwealth Games
In 2014 Wilson got her first crack at a major international competition, when she was added to the Commonwealth Games roster late in the game. Wilson finished third in the 50m backstroke at the Australian Nationals, just missing a spot on the roster. But when Meagan Nay suffered from an injury, Wilson was the replacement swimmer. At the Commonwealth Games Wilson finished 8th in the 50m backstroke.
2015 World Championships
Although Wilson has been somewhat of a newcomer to major international competitions, she qualified for the 2015 World Championships in Kazan. The backstroke specialist took on the 50m and 100m backstroke events in her first ever World Championships.
In the 50-meter race, Wilson qualified for her first Championship Final at World’s. In such a quick race where even the smallest of errors can cost you everything, Wilson had a great reaction time, but was passed up by some of the world’s best backstroke sprinters to touch the wall in 6th. She just got under the 28-second barrier, where nearly the entire heat was within one second of the winning time. She then took on the 100m back against 2012 Olympic champion, Missy Franklin, and fellow Australian teammate, Emily Seebohm. Wilson was out quickly, and was sitting in 3rd place by the 50 meter mark. Wilson focused on her last 50 meters to pass the heat leader, Denmark’s Mie Oe Nielsen, but once she was overtaken, Wilson found herself battling Seebohm. The two Australians touched 1-2 in the 100 back, giving Wilson another medal, this time a silver.
2016 Australia Swimming Championships (Australia’s Olympic Selection Meet)
Wilson qualified for the Australian Olympic Team by finishing second in the 100m Backstroke behind Emily Seebohm.
2016 Rio Olympics
Wilson finished 8th in the finals of the 100m backstroke with a time of 59.23.
2017 World Championships
Wilson led off the Australian 4x200M Free Relay with a time of 1:57.33 to help win the bronze medal.
2019 World Championships
Wilson started her world champs off with a gold, swimming prelims of the 4×100 free relay (53.90) which went on to earn first in the final heat. On Day 5, Wilson raced in the 4×200 free relay, where she split 1:56.73 on the 2nd leg to help Australia win gold ahead of the USA in a world record time of 7:41.50.
2020 Olympic Games
In the prelims of the 4×100 free relay, Wilson swam the 3rd leg in 53.10, helping Australia take the top spot headed into the night. The team would go on to break the world record and touch first in the final, netting Wilson a gold.
Wilson swam the 200 free individually, moving through the prelims and semifinals. In the final, Wilson finished 8th at 1:56.39.
Wilson swam on the finals relay of the 800 free relay, splitting 1:55.62 on the 3rd leg to help the Australians earn bronze in a new Oceanian record, dipping under their old world record.
2022 World Championships
Wilson started her championships off with the 400 free relay, swimming the 2nd leg for Australia in the final and splitting 52.60 en route to gold. On day 3 of the meet, she swam the prelims and semis of the 200 free, moving onto the final easily. In the final on day 4, she placed 5th overall in 1:56.85. The next night, she swam on the 800 free relay, splitting 1:56.74 on the leadoff leg to help Australia win silver.
On night 7, she swam on the mixed 400 free relay, where she split 52.2 on the 3rd leg en route to not only gold but a new world record in the event. On the final day of the meet, she swam on the prelims of the 400 medley relay, which went on to win silver in the final.
2023 World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, Japan)
While Wilson lost some of the world records she helped set in 2022, she still came home for Japan with some impressive hardwear in a stacked Aussie spring free corp. Wilson was 52.74 to anchor the prelims 400 free relay. The finals squad snagged gold and a new world record. She led off the prelims 800 free relay in 1:57.78. The finals squad took another world record. She was also on the prelims mixed 400 free relay where she was a solid 52.98. She was swapped out and the finals team won.
Individually, in the the 100 back, Wilson was 10th in prelims with a 1:00.04 and just missed the finals by .01 with a 59.63 for 9th in semis. As Australia’s #2 100 backstroker at the meet, Wilson led off Australia’s prelims 400 medley relay tesm in 59.54, better than the time she missed the final in. The finals squad took silver behind the Americans. She finished the meet as the 5th best swimmer of the meet by traditional medal counting with 3 golds and a silver.
