Madison Wilson

This article is about the Australian swimmer. For the Australian canoeist, see Madison Wilson (canoeist). For the Canadian soccer player, see Madison Wilson (soccer).

Madison Maree Short, OAM (née Wilson; born 31 May 1994) is a former Australian competitive swimmer who has participated in backstroke and freestyle events at the Olympic Games and the FINA world championships. Wilson has been a member of six world record Australian relay teams, most recently at the 2022 Short Course World Championships.

Madison Wilson

Emily Seebohm with Wilson (left) in Kazan, 2015
Personal information
Nickname	Madi
National team	Australia
Born	(1994-05-31) 31 May 1994 (age 31)[1] Roma, Queensland, Australia
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke, freestyle
Club	Marion
Coach	Peter Bishop
Medal record Women's swimming Representing  Australia Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 1 1 World Championships (LC) 8 7 2 World Championships (SC) 3 3 1 Commonwealth Games 4 0 1 Youth Olympic Games 1 1 1 Universiade 1 0 2 Total 19 12 8 Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m freestyle 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m freestyle 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m medley 2020 Tokyo 4×200 m freestyle World Championships (LC) 2015 Kazan 4×100 m freestyle 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m freestyle 2019 Gwangju 4×200 m freestyle 2022 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle 2022 Budapest 4×100 m mixed freestyle 2023 Fukuoka 4×100 m freestyle 2023 Fukuoka 4×200 m freestyle 2023 Fukuoka 4×100 m mixed freestyle 2015 Kazan 100 m backstroke 2017 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m medley 2019 Gwangju 4×100 m mixed freestyle 2022 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle 2022 Budapest 4×100 m medley 2023 Fukuoka 4×100 m medley 2015 Kazan 4×100 m medley 2017 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle World Championships (SC) 2022 Melbourne 4×100 m freestyle 2022 Melbourne 4×200 m freestyle 2022 Melbourne 4×50 m medley 2014 Doha 4×100 m medley 2022 Melbourne 4×50 m freestyle 2022 Melbourne 4×50 m mixed freestyle 2014 Doha 4×200 m freestyle Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m freestyle 2022 Birmingham 4×200 m freestyle 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m mixed freestyle 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m mixed medley 2022 Birmingham 200 m freestyle Universiade 2013 Kazan 200 m backstroke 2013 Kazan 100 m backstroke 2013 Kazan 50 m backstroke Junior Pan Pacific Championships 2012 Honolulu 100 m backstroke Youth Olympic Games 2010 Singapore 4×100 metre medley 2010 Singapore 4×100m mixed freestyle 2010 Singapore 4×100m mixed medley

Early and personal life

Although born in the South West Queensland town of Roma, Wilson grew up in Yeppoon on the Capricorn Coast where she attended Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School and swam with local swimming club Yeppoon Sharks where she was selected in her first Queensland team.^[2]

Wilson is engaged to Australian cricketer Matthew Short.^[3] The couple have a son, Austin Wilson Short.^[4]

Swimming career

Wilson won two medals as a member of Australian relay teams at the 2014 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) in Doha, Qatar: a silver in the women's 4×100-metre medley relay, and a bronze in the women's 4×200-metre freestyle relay.

At the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, Wilson won three medals: a gold as a member of the winning Australian team in the women's 4×100-metre freestyle relay; a silver in the women's 100-metre backstroke; and a bronze in the women's 4×100-metre medley relay.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Wilson represented Australia in the 100 m backstroke,^[5] where she finished 8th in the final. However, as a heat swimmer for the 4x100metre freestyle and medley relay teams, she received a gold and a silver medal after the teams placed first and second in their respective finals.^[6]

In recognition of her success at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Wilson was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2017 Australia Day Honours.^[7]

Wilson again swam in the heats of the women's 4x100metre freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics alongside Mollie O'Callaghan, Bronte Campbell and Meg Harris in July 2021, with the team posting the fastest qualifying time of 03:31:73.^[8] 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.^[9] As heat swimmers, Wilson and O'Callaghan are still Olympic gold medal recipients.^[9]

World records

Long course metres

No.	Event	Time	Meet	Location	Date	Status	Ref
1	4x200 m freestyle relay[a]	7:41.50	2019 World Aquatic Championships	Gwangju, South Korea	25 July 2019	Former	[10]
2	4x100 m mixed freestyle relay[b]	3:19.38	2022 World Aquatics Championships	Budapest, Hungary	24 June 2022	Former	[11]
3	4x200 m freestyle relay (2)[c]	7:39.29	2022 Commonwealth Games	Birmingham, United Kingdom	31 July 2022	Former	[12]

^a split 1:56.73 (2nd leg); with Ariarne Titmus (1st leg), Brianna Throssell (3rd leg), Emma McKeon (4th leg)
^b split 52.25 (3rd leg); with Jack Cartwright (1st leg), Kyle Chalmers (2nd leg), Mollie O'Callaghan (4th leg)
^c split 1:56.27 (1st leg); with Kiah Melverton (2nd leg), Mollie O'Callaghan (3rd leg), Ariarne Titmus (4th leg)

Short course metres

No.	Event	Time	Meet	Location	Date	Status	Ref
1	4x100 m freestyle relay[a]	3:25.43	2022 World Championships (25 m)	Melbourne, Australia	13 December 2022	Former	[13]
2	4x200 m freestyle relay[b]	7:30.87	2022 World Championships (25 m)	Melbourne, Australia	14 December 2022	Former	[14]
3	4x50 m medley relay[c]	1:42.35	2022 World Championships (25 m)	Melbourne, Australia	17 December 2022	Current	[15]

^a split 51.28 (2nd leg); with Mollie O'Callaghan (1st leg), Meg Harris (3rd leg), Emma McKeon (4th leg)
^b split 1:53.13 (1st leg), with Mollie O'Callaghan (2nd leg), Leah Neale (3rd leg), Lani Pallister (4th leg)
^c split 23.32 (freestyle leg); with Mollie O'Callaghan (backstroke leg), Chelsea Hodges (breaststroke leg), Emma McKeon (butterfly leg)

Olympic records

Long course metres

No.	Event	Time		Meet	Location	Date	Status	Notes	Ref
1	4x100 m freestyle relay[a]	3:32.39	h	2016 Summer Olympics	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	6 August 2016	Former		[16]

Legend: WR – World record; OC – Oceanian record; NR – Australian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

^a split 54.11 (1st leg); with Brittany Elmslie (2nd leg), Bronte Campbell (3rd leg), Cate Campbell (4th leg)

See also

• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
• List of Youth Olympic Games gold medalists who won Olympic gold medals