Cody Simpson dedicates new song Fly to the Dolphins Olympics team after failing to qualify

After his dream of making the Aussie Olympics swim team was dashed, Cody Simpson raced into the studio to create something inspiring.

Just two days after his hopes to join the Dolphins swimming team at the Paris Olympics were dashed, Cody Simpson was back in the recording studio.

His mission was to complete Fly, inspired by his four year quest to represent his country, which he wanted to finish in time for the games as a theme song for his former teammates.

Simpson’s champion swimmer girlfriend Emma McKeon was the first to hear his stirring song which channels the anthemic power of U2 and which he hopes to perform for the Dolphins in Paris.

“I thought if I can’t be there competing, how can I contribute to my team and my friends and what better way to do that than through music?” he said. “So two days after the trials I was in my home studio.

“Emma was the first to hear me working on it; fortunately she likes most of (my music) and she was stoked to hear the songs come out of what we were both doing.”

Cody Simpson will be be cheering and singing for the Dolphins in Paris. Picture: Tom Simpson / Supplied.

Simpson put his pop career on hold to chase his dream of making the Dolphins team for Paris.

The demands of training and competing left little mental energy to write songs but whenever he had a brief holiday from the rigorous schedule, he inevitably found himself with guitar in hand, writing sketches of songs about his experiences.

“I had a loose idea for Fly last year as an inspirational song, writing about my experiences of chasing this dream and trying to articulate in lyrics the mindset that is required for that kind of commitment and that fire I felt that drew me back to the sport and allowed me to grind as hard as I did for the last four years,” he said.

“I was just trying to find a way to capture the essence of that in not only lyrics, but also the feel of a song.”

Simpson’s partner Emma McKeon is a big fan of his new song Fly. Picture: Instagram

Cody Simpson missed out on making the Aussie Olympics swimming team. Picture: Getty

The 27-year-old singer songwriter launched his first single in 2010 when he was just 13 and has amassed more than one billion streams for his music over his career. He jokes he is recognised more often by swimming fans than music lovers these days.

Getting back into the studio after he failed to qualify for the team at the Olympic swimming trials in June was invaluable in helping him cope with the disappointment.

“It was so cathartic for me to do that, after years of being mentally and physically zapped from training,” he said.

“It was a rollercoaster of emotions post the trials because you put so much into something and don’t get the desired outcome, even though you know it’s a roll of the dice. You’re always going to have that up and down afterwards and I was riding that wave for a couple of weeks.”

Fly is out now and Simpson and his brother Tom are in Paris to cheer on the squad.

“I’m looking forward to supporting the crew, Emma and everybody,” he said.

Fly is out now via

Originally published as Cody Simpson dedicates new song Fly to the Dolphins Olympics team after failing to qualify