Paris 2024: How Cody Simpson can save Olympics fairytale
Swimmers can spend a lifetime trying to find fractions of a second, but Cody Simpson has just eight weeks to find a full second - leaving his ultimate Olympic fairytale in jeopardy.
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Cody Simpson has eight weeks to find one second.
It’s not impossible, but given swimmers can spend a lifetime trying to find fractions of a second, Simpson’s search for the ultimate Olympic fairytale is looking to be a serious battle - at least in the 100m butterfly.
Simpson placed fourth in the 100m butterfly at the Australian Open championships on the Gold Coast on Friday night, touching the wall in 52.32 seconds.
It was about half a second shy of his personal best time, which is to be expected at this stage of his Olympic trials preparations, but the concerning aspect is the speed being shown by his rivals as they all eagerly hunt the same ticket to Paris.
Matt Temple is a class above the entire field, with his 50.80s winning time putting him with one foot on the plane to Paris as the only man in the field capable of dipping below the 51s and with his eyes firmly on the 49s target it will take to win a medal at the Olympics.
In second place was Shaun Champion in 51.28s, ahead of Ben Armbruster in 51.88s.
Both are younger than Simpson and hungry to break into their first Olympic team.
Simpson is the most remarkable story in the pool, walking away from a lucrative music career to chase his childhood dream of an Olympic selection and with a time frame of just five years after making the call to ditch the guitar for goggles in 2019.
But what the 27-year-old may find is that his greatest hope of getting a seat to Paris is in the 100m freestyle.
The butterfly will only have two swimmers selected in the Dolphins swim team, but if Simpson can push his way into the top six in the 100m freestyle he would secure a likely start in the men’s world champion relay team.
It’s too soon to suggest his quest is on the rocks, but nobody is giving him an armchair ride into the national team and it will take an almighty final push before the Olympic trials in Brisbane starting June 10 to achieve his dreams.
We will get to see how Simpson’s freestyle is tracking on Saturday in the 100m freestyle.
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