Magnussen: It will be one of sport’s great success stories if Simpson achieves Olympic dream

Cody Simpson has done everything he can to make the Australian Olympic team. But, as former world champion JAMES MAGNUSSEN writes, it won’t be enough to achieve his dreams.

IF Cody Simpson makes the Australian Olympic swim team next week it would be one of the biggest success stories we have seen in the sport.

Look at it from this perspective, thousands of athletes have tried to qualify for an Olympics from a young age, taken no time away from the pool and put their entire life into the sport and have still failed.

Of the millions of Australians who learn to swim and the tens of thousands who pursue it as their sport, only about 40-odd swimmers every four years achieve the honour of representing their country at an Olympic Games.

It is the sporting pinnacle every young swimmer dreams about. The Olympic trials is the biggest moment of their careers.

For Cody to have had such a long hiatus from the pool and enjoyed such a successful music career, to then come back and pursue this Olympic goal, I can’t think of another story like it.

Magnussen says if Cody Simpson secures his spot in the Olympic team it would be one of the great success stories in sport. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

We’ve seen some of our greatest swimmers like Ian Thorpe (2012) and Grant Hackett (2016) take extended time out of the pool and not qualify for another Olympic Games.

They were a bit older than Cody is now, but I don’t think his age at 27 is a big factor for him because he would be fresher than your average 27-year-old swimmer.

By the age of 27 most swimmers had accumulated somewhere in the range of 10 million shoulder rotations per arm and that wear and tear on the body is enormous.

I was 27 in the last year of my career having swum 10 years for Australia and trained at that elite level since I was 13 - my body was screaming for me to stop.

So the time Cody had away from the sport is actually beneficial for his body.

You can see his body has held up really well to the training load. His physique is impeccable and he is obviously doing everything right in regards to nutrition, recovery and those one per cent aspects of performance.

It cannot be underestimated how much workload he has put himself through in the past three to four years to be in a position where he has even a chance to make this Australian swim team.

Do I think he can make it?

I think this Olympic team is probably just a step too far for Cody.

It would be an amazing news story for world swimming if he was to qualify, but I just think the depth we have right now in his two events will be too strong for him.

Looking at the times, his best chance is the 100m freestyle.

Magnussen believes the 100m freestyle is Cody Simpson’s best chance at qualifying for Paris. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

You’ve got six opportunities to qualify for that relay team so that race on Thursday night will be one of the most watched races of the entire Olympic trials.

If he can swim a 48.30s final, he probably makes the team.

If he bombs in the 100m freestyle it’s not the end of the world, he still has the 100m butterfly to come on Saturday, but Matt Temple and Shaun Champion will be tough to beat as young athletes on an upwards trajectory.

So I would be placing a lot of importance on the 100m freestyle and trying to get that sixth spot in that relay.

I will be the first to congratulate him if he can make this Olympic team because as a former athlete I know it can never be taken for granted just how tough it is to represent Australia at an Olympic Games.

It’s a blessing and a curse being an Australian in swimming.

It’s a blessing that we are one of the strongest nations in the world and have the best coaches, best facilities and the best global reputation, but it also makes it pretty much the toughest nation in the world to qualify for the team.

If Cody swam for any other country besides Australia or the USA, he’d probably be going to Paris.

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I am hanging out for this women’s 100m freestyle final on Friday.

Not just the race for first, because I think Mollie O’Callaghan will comfortably win that race.

But the race for second is very intriguing:

Will Emma McKeon secure another individual swim at the Olympic Games and defend her title?

Or will it be Shayna Jack after her time out of the sport?

Can Meg Harris upset them both?

Eyes will be on what Shayna Jack can achieve after her time away from the pool. Picture: Steve Pohlner

And can the Campbell sisters Bronte and Cate secure a spot on the relay team and qualify for another Olympic Games? Will one sister make it and the other miss out?

It really could be that brutal for some of our biggest names so that race will be the must-watch event of the trials.

The other race I can’t wait to see is, of course, the men’s 100m freestyle.

The world will be watching to see if Cody makes the team, but I’m intrigued to see what time Kyle Chalmers posts.

This 100m race is shaping up as the best Olympic race in history in Paris.

If we can get Chalmers, Caeleb Dressell, Pan Zhanle and David Popovici all at their absolute peak … oh that is a mouth-watering race. That will be bigger than the race of the century 200m freestyle final in Athens of Thorpe, Phelps and van den Hoogenband.