Cody Simpson Now A Box Office Attraction At The Australian Open Championships
Gold Coast-born Hollywood heartthrob turned swim star Cody Simpson will return home next month joining swimming’s biggest names at the Australian Open Championships as he pursues a dream of swimming at the Olympics.
The 24-year-old, who has qualified to contest the June Australian Olympic Swimming Trials in Adelaide, is turning the clock back to a childhood swimming career when he swam at the famed Miami Swim Club.
TROJAN TOWN: Cody Simpson at USC – from one ‘Glitter Strip’ to another. Photo Courtesy: Cabine Creative
But with Hollywood calling the young singer, dancer, actor and advertising and Instagram star, the son of former Australian swim team members Angie Greenwood and Brad Simpson followed his dream to Los Angeles glitter strip and is now an international name.
His star power has already brought even extra notoriety to a swimming mad Australian community and his appearances at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre (host pool for the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2014 Pan Pacs) is sure to be a hit with young fans at the box office!
Simpson will contest three events at the Australian Championships from April 14-18 –– the 50 and 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle.
The former Queensland State age group swimming medallist, who is targeting the 100m butterfly for the Olympic Trials and realistically the 2024 Olympics in Paris, began training under two-time Australian Olympian Brett Hawke at LA’s University of Southern California (USC) and more recently in Spain.
He is ranked 13th in the 100m butterfly heats, 15th in the 50m butterfly and 47th in the 100m freestyle and will represent the Superfish Swim Club – which has further swimming royalty at its helm.
The Gold Coast-based Superfish group was founded by 1988 Seoul Olympian Andrew Baildon – a five-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and a team mate of Simpson’s backstroking father Brad Simpson on the 1994 Commonwealth Games team to Victoria, Canada.
Baildon and wife Karen – daughter of dual 1968 Olympic gold medallist Mike Wenden – will be cheering on their own son, 20-year-old Flynn Basildon who will be contesting the 50 and 100m freestyle in the 18-21 Years Australian Age Championship.
Simpson’s 100m butterfly time of 53.85 sits two seconds behind top seed, Olympic 100m freestyle champion, Kyle Chalmers’ 51.37 in an event that has an Australian record of 50.85, set by 2008 Olympic bronze medallist Andrew Lauterstein – who lone behold will also be in action at 33!
And Lauterstein will actually race against Simpson in the 50m freestyle as several worlds collide at what will be a memorable five-day Championship meet in this deferred Olympic year.
(Lauterstein, who last made an appearance at an Australian Championship two years ago as a guest DJ, made a stunning “comeback” to racing at the Victorian State Championships earlier his year – winning the 50m freestyle in 22.77.
And in what will also be a Games Team “family reunion” a gold medal member of the Class of ’94 and an Olympic gold medallist from Sydney 2000, Chris Fydler and his 1980 Olympian wife Rose will have daughters Adriana and Claudia also contesting the Australian Championships.
Claudia Fydler, 19, a budding butterflyer and Adriana Fydler, 17 an emerging backstroker, both swim for Sydney’s No 1 Club Knox Pymble.
Father Chris, joined Baildon in the victorious Australian 4x100m freestyle relay in ’94, while Rose – who swam as Rosie Brown was a member of the 1980 Olympic team to Moscow and the 1978 and 1982 Commonwealth Games teams.
And while the pursuit of personal bests and even medals will be the main focus for these sons and daughters – a selfie or two with Cody Simpson is also sure to be high on the agenda – when the racing’s all done of course.
Exciting . So he must be in quarantine now?
Will the event be televised on swim tv ?
Cody listen to Michael Phelps, he knows you. Michael is one in a million.
Will they be moving the championships to sydney now that brisbane has a fresh Covid outbreak ? Hard to plans interstate