Cody Simpson’s Olympic Dreams Temporarily Crushed, Singer Gets Last Place in Swim Trials
Cody Simpson's Tokyo Olympic dreams have been dashed.
The 24-year-old competed in the Australian Olympic swim trials in Adelaide on Thursday (June 17), where the musician-turned-athlete clocked the sixth-fastest time overall which earned him a spot in the finals for the 100m butterfly.
Simpson needed to finish in 51.7 seconds in the finals to secure a spot for Tokyo but fell short at 52.94 seconds. Simpson came in last place during the final heat. Earlier in the trials, he achieved his personal best with a time of 52.84.
Simpson told The Sydney Morning Herald that he plans to begin training tomorrow and wants to add more events to his program.
“I want to start training 200m," he told the outlet. "The cool thing about my swimming is I don’t even know what my best event is yet. I just chose the 100m 'fly because it’s all I had time to prepare for this year.”
Simpson shared a heartfelt post on Instagram after the defeat and promised to return for the next Olympic trials set to take place in 2024.
"What an experience racing at my first Australian Olympic Trials. To make a final was our goal this year and with less than a year of training we did just that," he wrote.
Simpson also shared that he was able to go "so much further" than he originally expected and that just being able to race alongside the best in the country was a privilege.
"Thanks to @hawkebr and my training partner Matt Targett for pushing me every day back in the USA throughout COVID and to my new coach Michael Bohl for the wisdom and swift preparation! I’m so psyched to get back to training. See you in 3 years," he concluded.