‘I had an incredible journey’: Cody Simpson’s Olympic dream is over
By Tom Decent
Cody Simpson wrote a song on Thursday, a couple of days out from his last chance to make Australia’s Olympic swimming team.
It might make an album one day. It might not.
The lyrics of the song described the moment where a person ends a chapter in life and starts another.
The pop star transformed his life four years ago in a bid to achieve the Olympic dream that a 12-year-old Simpson had always thought about.
At 8:33pm on Saturday evening at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, on the final day of Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic swimming trials, Simpson’s era as a swimmer came to a “bittersweet” end after a fifth placed finish in the 100m butterfly.
“I did what I could and that’s all you can do,” Simpson said. “I came a lot further than perhaps what I could have bargained for.”
Cody Simpson at the Australian swimming trials in Brisbane. Credit: Getty Images
Simpson needed to finish in the top two and go under a tough qualifying time of 51.17 seconds, which was exactly half a second faster than his personal best in the event.
His final time of 51.79 was never going to be fast enough but it was only 0.64 seconds behind winner and Australia’s premier butterfly guy Matt Temple.
With girlfriend and Olympian Emma McKeon watching on, Simpson exited the pool with a smile.
The story of a pop star wanting to become an Olympian was often met with sniggers from the doubters but Simpson certainly gave swimming a red-hot crack by making a Commonwealth Games team in 2022 and winning a gold medal there in Birmingham in the 4x100m freestyle relay and a silver in the 4x100m medley relay.
Not many people have ‘music career’ and ‘swimming career’ both listed on their Wikipedia page.
Simpson didn’t do a poolside interview because he didn’t finish in the top two but Channel Nine’s Giaan Rooney was behind a curtain near the media mixed zone with a camera and lights waiting to chat to the man with a combined 11.5 million Instagram and Twitter (X) followers. Simpson was the only swimmer outside the top two all week to receive this kind of attention. He is used to it.
“I just wanted to see what I could get out of myself,” Simpson told Rooney.
He then walked past a throng of reporters and entered a different mixed zone where close mate and 2016 Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton was waiting with a big hug. Horton was even asked if he wanted to put his journalist hat on and fire off a question at Simpson.
Cody Simpson reacts after his 100m butterfly final. Credit: Getty Images
Simpson, with a million dollar smile, said he was content with what he’d achieved in the pool.
“I just wanted to do right by that kid in me that gave it up to go and pursue something else. I had an incredible journey,” Simpson said. “To have had the chance to swim for my country and make Australian teams and [win a] medal internationally and be part of the men’s relay … it’s something not a lot of swimmers get to achieve.
“That’s something that I’ll never forget or anyone will be able to take away from me. I feel proud to see how far I could go and satisfy the fire in me to swim and compete again.”
So, what next?
Australia’s Olympic swimming team for Paris 2024
44 athletes selected (pool and open water).
Debut (22): Iona Anderson, Ben Armbruster, Jaclyn Barclay Jack Cartwright, Abbey Connor, Elizabeth Dekkers, Jenna Forrester, Maximillian Giuliani, Shayna Jack, Lani Pallister, Alexandria Perkins, Jamie Perkins, William Petric, Ella Ramsay, Samuel Short, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor, Samuel Williamson, Bradley Woodward, Olivia Wunsch, William Yang, Joshua Yong.
2nd Olympics (13): Isaac Cooper, Meg Harris, Zac Incerti, Se-Bom Lee, Kaylee McKeown, Thomas Neill, Mollie O’Callaghan, Brendon Smith, Jenna Strauch, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Matthew Temple, Ariarne Titmus, Elijah Winnington.
3rd Olympics (3): Kyle Chalmers, Emma McKeon, Brianna Throssell.
4th Olympics (2): Bronte Campbell, Cameron McEvoy.
“I’ve got some exciting projects sort of lined up for after this,” Simpson said.
“The discipline and resilience and perseverance that swimming has instilled in me is something I’m really excited to implement in my future endeavours. It’s just helped me grow so much. I can’t wait to take that back into music and entertainment.”
Simpson missed the final of the 100m freestyle on Thursday but in a B-final that night, swam a time that would have been enough to potentially sneak onto an Olympic team. He was a few hundredths of a second away from being able to call himself an Olympian.
“If you told me I was going to go 51 seconds [in the butterfly] and 48 in the freestyle … it’s pretty cool,” Simpson said.
“Finishing with a personal best in the 100 freestyle - albeit in the wrong race - I’m stoked I was able to come this far and swim as fast as I could.”
The Simpson swimming circus is over. He drew new eyeballs to the sport and earned respect for grinding away and trying something no one had ever done before.
As Simpson walked away, it was Temple’s time to talk. For the best part of three years, he has flown under the radar. Attention always followed Simpson whenever he dived in the pool for a 100m butterfly race.
How did Temple feel about it all, now the dust has settled?
“Having his attention contributing to my race adds pressure on me,” Temple said. “I stick to my guns and go back to basics. I’d always like to call myself the underdog. I’m glad I’m not in the limelight because it would add pressure on me.”
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