Australian swimmer Madison Wilson, OAM, chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about her experience at the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, as well as competing for the Los Angeles Current in Season 3 of the International Swimming League (ISL).
Summer Olympic Games
At the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, she won a gold medal as part of the women’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay, and a bronze medal in the women’s 4×200 freestyle relay race for Team Australia. “That felt really good,” she said. “I was super excited to be a part of those two teams. It still hasn’t really sunk in just yet.”
This brings her total Olympic medal count to four (she previously won a gold medal in the women’s 4×100 meter freestyle relay and a silver in the women’s 4×100 meter medley relay race in Rio de Janeiro). She is coached by veteran swimming coach Peter Bishop.
Motivations and advice
On her daily motivations, she said, “Every day, I love the feeling of getting better and improving so every day when I go to training I just crave that feeling, and doing that again to achieve my goals.”
For young and aspiring swimmers, she said, “The biggest thing is setting goals and working hard to achieve them. Always giving 100 percent, even when you don’t think that you can. Most importantly, the biggest thing for young swimmers is to have fun and for them to enjoy what they are doing. You can’t lose the love that you have for the sport, and the enjoyment that you get out of it.”
Los Angeles Current
Wilson is stoked to be on the Los Angeles Current swimming team in ISL Season 3. “I am so excited to be on the team,” she admitted. “I actually know a few people internationally that are on that team, so I can’t wait to get to know everybody better.
She had great words about having the iconic Olympian and backstroker Lenny Krayzelburg as her team’s General Manager. “It is so exciting,” she said. “When Lenny first contacted me a while ago I was stunned. It has been really cool to chat with him super casually.”
Wilson listed the freestyle as her personal favorite stroke in swimming “I love everything about the 200 meter freestyle, in particular, and learning different ways to race it and different ways to do it. Also, I like swimming the backstroke as well even though it’s very hard on the legs,” she said.
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she said, “The beginning of the journey for me.”
Success
On her definition of the word success, she explained, “Getting out of a pool or finishing a journey or preparation knowing that you’ve given it everything you can, and there is nothing more that you could have left in that pool or left in that preparation. If you can push yourself day in and day out, and that’s your result in the end, then that’s your success.”
Wilson expressed her gratitude to her family, close team, support staff, and fans. “They mean everything to me, everything that I have done, and everything that I continue to do is for them. There are so special to me, I wouldn’t be half the athlete that I am without them. To my fans, you guys inspire me,” she said.
To learn more about Olympic swimmer Madison Wilson, follow her on Instagram.
