In Madison’s youth playing netball was a priority, but after three broken arms she was convinced that the pool was a little safer.
Madison Wilson is another success story from the regional areas of Australia. A country kid, born and raised in north Queensland, her parents would drive her to swim meets when she was young.
Those trips were often in towns four or five hours away, so the family would camp for the weekend. Such is the dedication commonly seen by country parents.
Diving into swimming, however, was not a given. Playing netball was also a priority, but after three broken arms she was convinced that the pool was a safer bet.
The 2014 World Short Course Championships in Qatar was Madison Wilson’s breakthrough moment, playing an important role in helping Australia to win relay medals.
However, at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, an individual silver medal in the 100m backstroke, finishing just behind compatriot Emily Seebohm, was when she earned her rightful place as one of the world’s leading backstrokers.
She also swam in the heats of what would become gold and bronze medal winning relay teams at that meet.
More relay gold and silver medals followed at the Rio 2016 Olympics – as the heat swimmer in the 4x100m freestyle and medley relay teams.
However, she missed selection for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games which prompted a move to Adelaide to train under highly reputed coach, Peter Bishop.
Wilson again swam in the heats of the women’s 4x100m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics alongside Mollie O’Callaghan, Bronte Campbell and Meg Harris in July 2021, with the team posting the fastest qualifying time.
However, Wilson and O’Callaghan did not swim in the final with Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell selected to compete instead, taking the Australian relay team to victory. As heat swimmers, Wilson and O’Callaghan are still Olympic gold medal recipients.
Swimming a full program at the 2022 Commonwealth games in Glasgow, Madison won an individual bronze medal in the 200m freestyle, plus two gold medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle relay finals.
Personal matters prevented Madison from competing at the Paris Olympics.
She has been inducted into the Swimming SA Hall of Fame.
