Olympic Champion Madi Wilson Announces Retirement From Professional Swimming

Olympic champion Madi Wilson has announced her retirement from professional swimming. Wilson, 30, took to her Instagram page to make the announcement, writing, “17 years ago I made my first junior Australian Swim Team, so it’s hard to put into words how I feel about announcing my official retirement today…I’m sad but ready to close this part of my life and move on to what life has next.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Madi Wilson OAM (@madiwilson)

Wilson is a two-time Olympian. She broke onto the senior international stage over a decade ago, winning two medals on the Australian 4×100 and 4×200 freestyle relays at the 2014 Short Course World Championships.

Over the rest of her career, she cemented herself as a key figure on Australia’s relays, particularly on the freestyle relays, which have become increasingly competitive as the nation continues to develop strong 100/200 freestylers. In addition to her freestyle skills, Wilson was a talented backstroker. She earned silver in the 100 backstroke at the 2015 World Championships and took 8th in the Rio Olympic final.

The Rio Games were Wilson’s first Olympics. In addition to representing Australia in the 100 backstroke, she was a prelims swimmer on the 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relay and earned a gold and silver medal for her role after the finals quartets finished first and second in their respective finals.

Wilson earned more Olympic hardware at the Tokyo Olympics, adding a second-straight gold medal in the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay after her prelims swim. She also earned a bronze medal as part of Australia’s 4×200 freestyle relay team, which set an Oceanian record.

Wilson was part of several world record-setting relay swims, including Australia’s performance in the 4×200 freestyle relay at the long-course meters 2019 World Championships and the short-course meters 2022 World Championships.

In addition to her success at the Olympic level, she also earned 17 long-course World Championships medals and 7 short-course World Championships medals during her decorated career. Except for her silver medal in the 100 backstroke from 2015, all her World Championship medals are from her role on relays.

Wilson last competed at the 2023 World Championships, where she placed 9th in the 100 backstroke and swam in the heats of the women’s 4×100 freestyle, 4×200 freestyle, and 4×100 medley relays, and the mixed 4×100 freestyle relay.

Last February, she announced she would miss the Paris Olympics as she was expecting a child with her fiance, Matt Short, an Australian cricket player. Wilson said at the time she was not planning to retire. The couple’s child, Austin, was born in late August 2024.

“Swimming has been the biggest part of my life and my identity for the better part of nearly two decades,” Wilson wrote in her announcement post. “It’s been the most incredible yet challenging and rewarding journey and I feel incredibly proud of the woman I’ve become and what I achieved throughout my time representing Australia.”

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