High efficiency alternatives proceed to come back Madison Kryger’s approach.
After representing Canada on the 2025 World Aquatics Championships and the 2025 World Aquatics Junior Championships, the 17-year Niagara Falls native has been named to Team Canada’s swim group for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
“I’m thrilled to welcome both seasoned athletes and first-time competitors representing Canada at the 2026 Commonwealth Games,” mentioned Kelly Laframboise, Director, Team Canada 2026, in a press launch. “Their dedication, passion, and perseverance inspire us all and I couldn’t be prouder to cheer them on as they showcase the very best of Canadian spirit on the world stage.”
The Brock Niagara Aquatics member is thrilled with the choice.
“It is so exciting and getting to go to Scotland is amazing. I haven’t travelled in Europe all that much and I am so grateful for any opportunity to represent Canada. It’s such an amazing team and it is always an honour.”
She will hope to construct on her experiences on the 2025 senior worlds the place she positioned nineteenth within the preliminaries of the 200-metre backstroke in a time of two:11.40.
“It was just amazing but definitely an adjustment. Staging was two weeks in Japan and that was so super cool because I had never been to Asia. Getting there was already an experience and it was nice to be able to soak that up.”
However, Kryger wasn’t the happiest with how her race went.
“I had hoped to get a second swim in but I am grateful for that because I was able to learn from it and kind of move forward leading into world juniors. In the moment, it was frustrating but I do think it helped me grow so much as a swimmer and as a person.”
The greatest lesson realized from her first open worlds was to cease making excuses for herself.
“In that moment in Singapore, I was ‘Wow my legs are really sore and I don’t know if this is going to be a great race’ and I got really down on myself. When I arrived in Romania for world juniors, I got very sick by the time of my 200 backstroke and I still had an amazing race even though I was really sick. It’s kind of taking that lesson and realizing you can do things even when you are tired or not feeling well and make it something great. You have to work through that because not every time is going to be perfect.”
At junior worlds, she received a bronze medal within the 100-metre backstroke with a PB of 1:00.27, positioned fourth within the 200-metre backstroke and 400-metre medley relay, and fifth within the 400-metre freestyle relay.
In 2024, Kryger received a bronze medal within the 100-metre backstroke and got here in fourth within the 200-metre backstroke on the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Australia.
She certified for the World Aquatics Championships by successful the 200-metre backstroke on the Bell Canadian Swimming Trials in Victoria. In the 13-18 age class, she received the 50-metre and 100-metre backstrokes, positioned second within the 100-metre and 400-metre freestyles and was third within the 200-metre freestyle.
Kryger’s swimming journey started at age six when she began taking swimming classes.
“Growing up, my brother (Matthew) tried each sport and clearly I adopted him round as a result of I needed to be identical to him. I keep in mind doing my first lesson and the coach acquired within the water with me and my brother was doing laps round us.
She rapidly started swimming laps round everybody else and have become a aggressive swimmer. She had her first meet when she was eight as a member of the Garden City Aquatic Club. From there, she moved on to Brock Niagara Aquatics and she or he’s now in her third 12 months on the High Performance Centre in Toronto.
She nonetheless lists Brock Niagara Aquatics as half of her residence membership.
“It is so important to show where you came from. I am so grateful for how generous they’ve been to me. When I come home for Christmas, it’s nice to have a pool I can still go to and train.”
She now lives in Pickering and trains in Scarborough the place she is within the water twice a day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and as soon as a day on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
“It’s nice because I am not super far from home. It’s an hour-and-a-half to two-hour drive. My mom usually comes and sees me once a week and then when I don’t have a swim meet I go home on the weekends after Saturday,” she mentioned. “I do miss them during the week but I still get a little bit of home. There are some people on my team who are not from around here and they don’t get to go home. We have people from Quebec and some who have families in the U.S. so it could be worse, for sure.”
It’s a gruelling schedule and there are robust occasions that each swimmer has to cope with.
“I am surrounded by such an amazing team and we all have very similar goals. That is an important part of our program. There are not expectations but we are all there for the same reasons. We are all there to make teams and we are all there to get personal bests. When you are struggling, you are not going to stay down there for too long because one thing we really work on as a team is pushing each other and encouraging each other,” Kryger mentioned. “If you see someone struggling, you shout them out and you remind them that they are doing amazing and it’s going to get better. My coaches too are also so incredibly supportive, there is such an amazing support staff here and there are so many resources to help us get through those tough blocks and moments.”
She admits to being a little bit of a fan lady when she sees excessive profile athletes like three-time Olympic champion Summer McIntosh coaching in the identical facility.
“It’s hard not to be. When she was training with us leading into the worlds, she had her own practices but she was in the pool with us. You see the times that she is doing and you see that she is such a hard worker. You get a little starstruck because she is amazing. It is so hard not to look up to her seeing her racing. She is such a kind person and I’ve noticed a lot of people on top are like that. There are so many people like that on the national team and they have made me feel so welcome.”
Kryger’s aim is to symbolize Canada on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“It is a lot of people’s dream to go to the Olympics and I will be looking to do that in a few years.”
Much of the prep work for her Olympic dream will likely be completed on the University of Tennessee the place she’s going to grow to be a scholarship swimmer within the fall of 2026.
“I think taking that step and being around all those amazing student/athletes who are all pushing for similar if not the same goal, especially with their being so many Canadians at that school, that’s a step in the right direction.”
Before Kryger had even entered the recruitment course of, Tennessee was on the high of her record.
“I saw a lot of Canadians I looked up to going there but also I loved the coaches’ and the team’s Instagram. It looked like such a family,” she mentioned. “The moment I stepped on campus I felt so important and appreciated. It felt like such a family and a good atmosphere. I just couldn’t say no. I visited other schools and they were great but this one felt different.”
Training away from residence now ought to ease the adjustment to Tennessee.
“I am so grateful because it is preparing me not only for that but I am learning a lot of life lessons so early on.”
Wherever swimming takes her, it will likely be a labour of affection.
“I love any kind of practice. I love when I can take that moment with myself and say ‘I really want to push myself right now and I want to achieve a certain time in this practice.’ Or even in a meet. It gives you such an adrenaline rush in the moment and after. It’s so amazing and you can be proud of yourself when you have amazing results. Even when they are not amazing results, you can reflect and think how grateful you are for these opportunities.”
Photo at high of story courtesy of Daniel Harrison.