Madisyn Cox
Madisyn Cox is a Texas-native and student-athlete and the University of Texas. Primary an IM and breaststroke specialist, Cox is extremely versatile, with the ability to swim the freestyle events at a championship level. She made massive strides on the NCAA level as she jumped from a consolation swimmer to a medalist in her sophomore season at Texas. More of a self-described long course swimmer, Cox is a member of the 2015-2016 U.S. National Team.
University of Texas
2013-2014
After graduating from Lubbock High School in 2013, Cox moved to Austin, Texas to swim for UT. The freshman made an immediate impact, and made huge improvements in her first season as a Longhorn. Cox qualified for the 2014 NCAA Championships after winning the 200-yard IM and taking 2nd in the 400-yard IM and the 200-yard breast. At the NCAA’s she qualified for the consolation final in the 200-yard IM, where she finished 16th overall, earning her first Honorable Mention All-America honor.
2014-2015
In her sophomore season Cox made huge strides, earning more All-America honors. This time around, Cox made the championship final in the 200 IM on day of the meet. Dropping her time by well over a second in the prelims, she had easily the best back-half in the heat to take 3rd only behind California’s Missy Franklin and Liz Pelton.
The next day she bounced back for the 400-yard IM, this time taking 5th, earning another All-America honor. Although her breaststroke leg was the dominant part of her race, her splits were still outstanding in the other legs. Not long after, she led off the 800-yard free relay that led Texas to a 13th place finish. She went 3-for-3 in finals, and made the consolation final of the 200-yard breast, swimming a solid best time for 12th. She was named the Big-12 Swimmer of the Year.
2015-2016
Cox returned for her junior year at Texas, and got off to a running start with Texas’ massive dual meet schedule. At the Texas Invite, Cox posted the NCAA’s fastest 200-yard IM of the 2015-2016 season.
2016-2017
Cox came away with two third place finishes and one sixth place finish at the NCAA Championship Meet. She finished third in the 200IM with a time of 1:52.58, and third in the 400IM with a time of 4:00.97. With a time of 2:05.77 in the 200 Breast, Cox earned the sixth place spot. She lead off Texas’ 800 Free Relay that finished 4th swimming a split of 1:43.53. Cox also swam the breaststroke leg of the 400 Medley Relay, helping Texas to a third place finish with a split of 58.30.
National/International Competition
2014 SCM World Championships
After her freshman season Cox qualified for the short course World Championship Team, and shockingly not her prime events. She finished good enough to earn a relay spot on USA’s 800-meter free relay team, which most importantly gave her international experience.
2015 World University Games
After a stunning year at Texas Cox travelled to South Korea for the 2015 World University Games. Swimming the 200-meter IM, Cox advanced to the championship final in her first WUGs. In the final, she led the first 175 meters, but could not hold on at the end. She was out-split in the last 50 meters by Zhang Sishi from China, and took home the silver medal.
FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) 2016
Cox finished in third place in the 400M IM, just .04 seconds behind silver medalist and fellow US Swimmer, Ella Eastin. Cox touched the wall in 4:27.78, six seconds off the winner, Katinka Hosszu.
2017 US World Trials
Madisyn Cox made the US team by finishing second to Melanie Margalis in the 200M Individual Medley by just 0.12 seconds, 2:09.57 to 2:09.69.
2017 FINA World Championships
On day two of World Championships in the 200m IM, Cox came out of nowhere, flying through the final 50 to take bronze in 2:09.71. Cox also picked up a gold as part of the 800 free relay.
Doping Suspension
On July 20, 2018, it was announced that Madisyn Cox was given a 2-year doping suspension after Trimetazidine appeared in an out-of-competition doping test. The test was conducted on February 5th, 2018. Her period of sanction began on March 3rd, 2018, the date of her last race, and ends on March 2nd, 2020.
In a statement released to SwimSwam, Cox says that the positive test was for an “unfathomably low” amount, and that she had “never heard of this substance prior to receiving the test results.” A FINA anti-doping panel found that Cox is “an honest, very hardworking and highly credible athlete who is not a ‘cheat,’ and also said that they believed her testimony to be true. That allowed them to reduce the sanction from 4 years to 2 years.
On August 31, 2018, SwimSwam reported that The Court of Arbitration for Sport approved an agreement reducing Madisyn Cox’s 2-year doping suspension to six months after she was able to establish what had triggered the positive test for Trimetazidine. As the initial suspension began March 3rd of 2018, Cox was eligible for competition on September 3rd, 2018.
