Cody Simpson’s Olympic dream down to last chance in agonising wait

Cody Simpson will have one last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics after he narrowly missed out on a final at the Aussie swim trials.

Cody Simpson is looking to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

Cody Simpson has one last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics after he narrowly missed the men’s 100m freestyle final.

Simpson’s time of 49.04 was 10th fastest in Thursday’s heats and he will be the first reserve for the final, with ninth-placed German visitor Josha Salchow ineligible for the final.

Kyle Chalmers (48.39) was the fastest qualifier for the 100m freestyle final ahead of William Yang, Flynn Southam, Jamie Jack and Kai Taylor.

It was always going to be a tough ask for Simpson to finish in the top six in the 100m freestyle, which would have secured a spot for the 4x100m relay.

“I’m feeling pretty good. I did the best I could out there,” Simpson said.

“It’s a stacked field in that 100m free so I knew it was going to be a bit iffy trying to get into that final, so it was a good warm up for the 100m fly.

“It’s not my main event, it’s sort of the second most important to me, but I love the freestyle so I thought I’d get in and have a crack.”

Cody Simpson just missed the 100m freestyle final. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Simpson finished fifth in the 100m butterfly at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where he also won gold and silver medals as a relay swimmer.

After making rapid improvements since returning to the pool, the singer said finding incremental gains had become harder.

“I had a really good last six months of training, just absolutely flogging myself so ready to hopefully get some good results this week,” he said.

“Swimming’s tricky. You can train for a long time for really marginal gains, microscopic sometimes.

“I had a really great shift the first two years and just sort of been banging at the brick wall trying to get that next level.

“And the faster you get, the harder it is to keep getting faster so it’s just going to be about trying to see if I can put something together on the night.

“The qualifying time is about exactly half a second faster than my current PB (personal best), which is not much but we just have a go.”

He now turns his attention to the 100m butterfly. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

He will now turn his focus to his main event the 100m butterfly, which is scheduled for the last day of competition on Saturday.

It’s a fairly agonising wait for Simpson, who is seeded sixth fastest in the 100m butterfly.

The top two swimmers will qualify for Paris. National record holder Matt Temple is expected to win and Simpson will battle it out with Shaun Champion, Ben Armbruster and Chalmers for the second spot.

Armbruster has already qualified for the 50m freestyle, finishing second behind Cameron McEvoy.

Even if the second swimmer doesn’t go under the tough qualifying time of 51.17sec, they are likely to be selected as a backup for the medley relay. Simpson’s personal best is 51.67.

Can Cody make the Olympics in the 100m butterfly? (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Simpson has hinted he may soon swap back his goggles for his guitar and his coach Michael Bohl this week said the trials represented the “last throw of the dice”.

“He has got to swim PBs to get himself A, through to the final and B, on to the team,” Bohl said.

“So it’s a challenge but he’s as ready as he is ever going to be.

“This is his last throw of the dice and we’re hoping that he can get up and just get the best out of himself.”

Elsewhere in Thursday’s heats, 32-year-old Emily Seebohm qualified fourth fastest for the 200m backstroke final as she aims to qualify for a record-breaking fifth Olympics.

Seebohm won bronze in the event in Tokyo and gave birth to her first child last September.

Originally published as Cody Simpson’s Olympic dream down to last chance in agonising wait