- Simpson plans to return to entertainment
- Swimmer used to be a teenage pop star
- Simpson missed selection for the Paris Games
Cody Simpson says he will return to the entertainment industry after a bittersweet failure to make the Australian Olympic swimming team.
Simpson, a global teen pop star who quit his music career to return to the pool, has missed out on selection in the Australian team for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
The 27-year-old finished fifth in the 100m butterfly final at the Australian selection trials in Brisbane on Saturday evening.
“It’s bittersweet,” Simpson said.
Cody Simpson (pictured) says he is returning to the entertainment industry after failing to make Australia’s Olympic swimming team
Simpson was a global teen pop star who quit his music career to return to the pool
“But I did what I could do, and that’s all you can do.”
Simpson’s mother Angie and father Brad both swam for Australia at the 1987 Pan-Pacific Games and 1994 Commonwealth Games respectively.
Simpson was a promising junior swimmer, winning two gold medals at the 2009 Queensland state championships at the age of 12.
That year, the singer-guitarist posted some songs on YouTube and was discovered by an American music manager – his family moved to Los Angeles in 2010 and fame followed.
But four years ago, Simpson couldn’t ignore the itch to return to competitive swimming.
“Just to please the kid in me…I wanted to come here for the last four years and just really give it a good try,” he said.
“To have the opportunity to swim for my country and make Australian teams and medal internationally… is something that not many swimmers can achieve or experience.
“And I’ve had the privilege of doing that and that’s something I’ll never forget and that no one can ever take away from me.”
Simpson (pictured with partner Emma McKeon) was a promising junior swimmer, winning two gold medals at the 2009 Queensland State Championships at the age of 12
Simpson swam at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and won a gold medal as a heat swimmer in the triumphant 4x100m freestyle relay in Australia.
“I feel really proud… to satisfy the fire that was inside me to compete and swim again and push myself in training,” he said.
“The discipline, resilience and perseverance that swimming has re-instilled in me is something I am very keen to implement in my future endeavors as it has just helped me grow so much.
“And how I can bring that back into music and entertainment and see what I can do. There are some exciting projects coming up next that I would do again no matter how the week goes.”
