Pop star Cody Simpson fails to show at Aussie swim championships

Aussie pop star Cody Simpson has failed to show up for the Australian swimming national championships after an unexplained withdrawal.

Cody Simpson. Photo: BACKGRID Australia.

Aussie pop star Cody Simpson has failed to show up for his heat at the Australian swimming national championships.

Simpson, who has returned to his “first love” of swimming after ditching it to pursue opportunities in music at a young age, was listed to swim in the 100m butterfly but chose not to compete in the second heat after recently coming out of quarantine in Darwin.

The 23-year-old has been training on the Gold Coast after returning from the US alongside former Olympian Brett Hawke before returning home to compete. On Thursday he was seen pool deck with Australian Olympic legend Ian Thorpe.

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Cody Simpson and Ian Thorpe talk during the 2021 Australian Swimming Championships at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre. Photo: Getty Images

There remains a chance he will swim in the 50 metre butterfly on Saturday in the non-Olympic meet.

If he doesn’t take to the pool Sydneysiders might catch a glimpse of him next month.

Last year he gave himself a shot at making the squad for Tokyo after smashing the qualifying benchmark of 56.87 seconds, with a time of 54.9 seconds in the 100m butterfly.

Despite having to quarantine upon arrival in Australia, Simpson still caused quite a stir after revealing his impressive frame at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre for a training session.

Simpson, who previously dated Gigi Hadid and Miley Cyrus, is one of the beneficiaries of the Olympics being postponed a year due to the COVID pandemic and he will compete in the trials in Adelaide this June in an attempt to make the final squad for Japan.

The Australian Swimming Championships is a key step towards June’s Olympic trials in Adelaide, but some of the big names decided to give the meet a miss.

Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton also pulled out of the 400m freestyle while Kyle Chalmers also pulled out of heats on Friday.

One swimmer who did though was Mitch Larkin, with the five-time Commonwealth Games medallist posting the fastest time in the world in the last 12 months in the 200m backstroke, posting a 1:53:38 — almost five seconds quicker than second placed Tristan Hollard.

Later, Larkin finished third in the 200m individual medley behind Louis Townsend and Thomas Hauck.

Butterfly queen Emma McKeon looked comfortable in her 100m butterfly, finishing first with a 58.14.

Ariarne Titmus breezed through her 400m freestyle heat, swimming an impressive time of 4:06:53.

Originally published as Pop star Cody Simpson fails to show at Aussie swim championships