For some reason, I’ve been completely invested in pop star-turned-professional swimmer Cody Simpson‘s bid to make the Australian Olympic team. It’s such an odd, yet wholesome story. Cody’s had a go at becoming a famous singer, dated a very famous singer in Miley Cyrus, won The Masked Singer and now he’s thrown it all in to chase his aquatic dreams. I absolutely love to see this kind of career swerve.
Unfortunately, his recent quest to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics — which were moved from 2020 to 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic — has come to a grinding halt on the final night of the Olympic Swimming Trials in Adelaide overnight. Though he posted a personal best time earlier in the day during a practice swim, Cody Simpson failed to qualify for the Olympics. I’m inordinately upset about this. For some reason I needed him to qualify more than I needed anything this week, and this news has ruined everything for me.
Hot favourite Matt Temple smashed an Australian record to win the race in 50.45 — that time ranks him second in the world this year. David Morgan, who came second in the 200m butterfly this week, once again was second home with a time of 51.67, and Shaun Champion came third with a time of 51.93. At 52.94, Cody was 1.24 sec behind the 51.7 needed to qualify. Sniff.
But we shouldn’t despair. As Cody Simpson pointed out, Tokyo was never the goal — the Olympics he’s really making a play for is Paris 2024. It’s actually amazing that the 24-year-old got into a final after such a short time of taking swimming seriously and getting into training (he was a talented junior swimmer before deciding to focus on his recording career instead).
He said on Instagram: “What an experience racing at my first Australian Olympic Trials. To make a final was our goal this year and with less than a year of training we did just that. I’ve come so much further than I expected to this year and to be racing the best in the country already is a privilege.
“Thanks to @hawkebr and my training partner Matt Targett for pushing me everyday back in the USA throughout COVID and to my new coach Michael Bohl for the wisdom and swift preparation! I’m so psyched to get back to training. See you in 3 years.”
This is the kind of can-do attitude we can all aspire to. Can’t wait to see Cody Simpson win gold in 2024! No pressure, mate.
