Cody Simpson’s Olympics bid falls short, Cate Campbell retires in emotional scenes
Cody Simpson has fallen just short in his quest to make the Paris Olympics, while a swimming legend bid farewell in emotional scenes.
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Cody Simpson’s bid to make the Paris Olympics has fallen just short.
All eyes were on the popstar in the men’s 100m butterfly final and he was in the hunt coming down the last lap.
You could have thrown a blanket over the field and Simpson ultimately finished fifth in 51.79 — just outside his personal best of 51.67 and 0.01 slower than his heats swim.
National record holder Matt Temple won in 51.15 ahead of Ben Armbruster, who had already qualified in the 50m freestyle.
Shaun Champion (51.40) was third and Jesse Coleman (51.51) was fourth.
Simpson tied first in the 100m freestyle B final in 48.67sec, which was good enough for equal sixth overall.
It would have given selectors food for thought about picking him as a 4x100m freestyle relay swimmer, but it doesn’t count for much because he didn’t do it in the A final.
Simpson, a talented junior swimmer, put his successful music career on hold to return to the pool.
He exceeded all expectations by making the 100m butterfly final at the Tokyo Olympic trials, and made the Australian team for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
He finished fifth in the 100m butterfly in Birmingham, where he also won gold and silver as a relay swimmer.
But Australia’s depth in the 100m fly has strengthened and Olympic qualification ultimately proved a bridge too far for the 27-year-old.
“It’s bittersweet. I did what I could do,” a philosophical Simpson told reporters.
“I’ve come a lot further in the last four years than I perhaps could have bargained for.
“(I) started from zero and tried to see how far I could get with a half or a third of the time everybody else has been training...just to do right by that kid in me who gave it up to go and pursue something else, which I had an incredible journey in.
“(I) wanted to come in these last four years and have a real good go.
“To have had the chance to swim for my country and make Australian teams, medal internationally and be a part of the men’s relay and swim for Australia is something not a lot of swimmers get to achieve or experience. I have had the privilege to do that.
“That’s something I’ll never forget and nobody will be able to take from me. I feel really proud to see how far I could go and satisfy the fire that was inside me and compete again and push myself in training.”
Simpson said he was proud of the “friends I’ve made along the way and the kind of discipline and resilience and perseverance that swimming has again instilled in me is something I’m really excited to implement in my future endeavours”.
He had hinted he would swap his goggles for his guitar if his Olympic bid fell short, and he said he would take plenty of lessons from following the black line back to his music career.
“It’s helped me grow so much,” he said.
“I can’t wait to take that back into music and entertainment and see what I can do. I’ve got some exciting projects lined up after this.
“Finishing with a PB in the 100m freestyle, albeit swum in the wrong race, I’m pretty stoked I’ve been able to come this far and swim as fast I have. If you’d have told me four years ago I’d be going 51 and 48 in the 100m freestyle, it’s pretty cool.”
Cate Campbell bows out in emotional scenes
Cate Campbell’s swimming career is over after she finished seventh in the 50m freestyle final in 24.76sec.
Shayna Jack won in 23.99sec ahead of Meg Harris (24.26), who booked her first individual swim at the Olympics.
Emma McKeon was third in 24.32, meaning she won’t get to defend her Olympic gold in both the 50m and 100m freestyle as the next generation of sprinters emerges.
There were emotional scenes in the pool at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre as Campbell waved farewell to the crowd and was embraced by every swimmer in lane seven.
The result means the 32-year-old’s bid to become the first Australian swimmer to compete at five Olympics has fallen short.
Campbell told reporters: “The fact there were two girls who qualified for an Olympic Games, which is no mean feat, one of them for her first individual spot in Meg Harris — that they put their celebrations on hold and came over is one of the most incredible moments and something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. I would have loved to have that fairytale ending more than anything else.
“But I can now sit back and reflect on a wonderful career. I can leave the sport with my head held really high.
“I came back to try do something no one’s done before and my god, I gave it a really good crack.”
Sister Bronte Campbell was fifth in 24.46 and had already qualified for the 4x100m freestyle relay by finishing fourth in the 100m freestyle on Friday.
Elsewhere on Saturday night, Brendon Smith, Will Petric, Ella Ramsay and Jenna Forrester all swum under the qualifying time in the 400m individual medley.
Lani Pallister and Moesha Johnson also qualified in the women’s 1500m freestyle.
Australia has unveiled a 41-person swimming team for the Paris Olympics after the trials wrapped up in Brisbane on Saturday night.
The team features 22 Olympic debutants, a trio of three-time Olympians and two four-time Olympians.
Kyle Chalmers, Emma McKeon and Brianna Throssell are off to their third Olympics.
Bronte Campbell and Cameron McEvoy join the exclusive club of four-time Olympic swimmers.
Ten of the swimmers selected train under Dean Boxall at the St Peters Western club, giving the supercoach a quarter of Australia's’s entire Olympic swimming contingent.
Australian Olympic swimming team: Iona Anderson, Ben Armbruster, Jaclyn Barclay, Bronte Campbell, Jack Cartwright, Kyle Chalmers, Abbey Connor, Isaac Cooper, Lizzie Dekkers, Jenna Forrester, Max Giuliani, Meg Harris, Zac Incerti, Shayna Jack, Moesha Johnson, Se-Bom Lee, Cameron McEvoy, Emma McKeon, Kaylee McKeown, Thomas Neill, Mollie O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Alex Perkins, Jamie Perkins, William Petric, Ella Ramsay, Sam Short, Brendon Smith, Flynn Southam, Jenna Strauch, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Kai Taylor, Matt Temple, Brianna Throssell, Ariarne Titmus, Sam Williamson, Brad Woodward, Olivia Wunsch, Elijah Winnington, William Yang, Joshua Yong
Open water swimmers: Chelsea Gubecka, Moesha Johnson, Kyle Lee, Nick Sloman
Australian Paralympic swimming team for Paris 2024: Jesse Aungles, Emily Beecroft, Ricky Betar, Lewis Bishop, Rowan Crothers, Katja Dedekind, Tom Gallagher, Jasmine Greenwood, Brenden Hall, Benjamin Hance, Timothy Hodge, Jack Ireland, Ella Jones, Jenna Jones, Ahmed Kelly, Alexa Leary, Paige Leonhardt, Maddie McTernan, Jake Michel, Chloe Osborn, Grant Patterson, Lakeisha Patterson, Col Pearse, Alex Saffy, Callum Simpson, Keira Stephens, Ruby Storm, Holly Warn, Rachael Watson, Poppy Wilson.
Originally published as Cody Simpson’s Olympics bid falls short, Cate Campbell retires in emotional scenes
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