Cody Simpson’s Olympic dream looks possible after stunning swim at championships
Pop star Cody Simpson has silenced all doubters by uncorking a powerful swim at the Australian championships, proving his long-shot Olympic dream is within reach.
NSW
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Pop star Cody Simpson came within a whisker of making the open final at the Australian championships on Saturday with a stunning return to top level swimming.
Showing hardly any signs of nerves in his first competitive race in Australian waters for over a decade, the ex-boyfriend of Miley Cyrus surprised all the doubters and even himself by uncorking a powerful swim which proved he’s not out of his depth and his long-shot Olympic dream could be real.
Racing in the men’s 50m butterfly, Simpson clocked a slick 24.68 seconds in his heat to finish 11th overall, just 0.02 outside the top 10, who all advanced to Sunday’s final at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.
Speaking exclusively to News Corp, Simpson said: “I probably would have liked to have gone a little quicker, but it was the first race back in a long time and I’ve only just come out of quarantine.
“Two weeks out of the water sets you back quite a while, but I had to get through the quarantine at some point so I’m glad I did it sooner rather than later. I didn’t want to leave it too close to June.
“I just wanted to get up and at least do the 50m to dust myself off.
“The nerves were not as bad as I thought, though they probably would have been a little worse for the 100m because the 50m is a little less pressure.
“I just wanted to go through the motions again and just feel comfortable in the mix with everybody.
“My mum and dad were here. Both were swimmers so they were excited to see me back in the water.”
A Gold Coast local, Simpson was a promising young swimmer who competed at representative level before he turned to music.
Still only 24, he decided last year to make a comeback to the pool, initially with the goal of making the Australian team for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but he’s decided to have a crack at Tokyo after those Games were postponed for 12 months.
“There’s good and bad days, as there are with anything, but in the grand scheme, I’ve been progressing faster than I thought I would have, considering I’ve only been back in the water about none to 10 months now,” Simpson said.
“I started knowing it was going to be a really long journey for me, even for Tokyo. Considering it was supposed to be last year it was never on the cards but even this year it’s obviously a long shot.
“I’ve always been looking at it as a long-term goal, but in a way I’m ahead of my schedule so happy with that.”
Simpson is hoping to make the team in the 100m butterfly. To do that he needs to finish in the top two at the Australian trials in Adelaide in June and post a time of 51.70sec or quicker, but he has some strong supporters in his corner.
After spending two weeks in quarantine in Darwin, he has started training under master coach Michael Bohl and has also been getting tips from none other than Olympic great Ian Thorpe.
“I’ve only been here four or five days and we haven’t really got into a routine yet but it’s nice to be able to work with Bohly, I’ve known him since I was little and he’s a good friend of my parents so it was comfortable getting in with him,” Simpson said.
“He’s got an amazing squad so I’ll have some good training partners once we get into a rhythm.
“I’m looking forward to getting a few months of training under my belt before racing in Adelaide.
“I’m going to race in Sydney too (in mid-May), I think I’m going to start racing my hundreds in Sydney.
“Ian Thorpe’s been a real mentor throughout the last few months since I’ve been planning on coming home, so it’s pretty awesome to have guys like him wanting to help out.
“It’s just simple stuff. Just checking in with him about how I’m doing in training and sending him videos and taking a look at my stroke.”
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