Cody Simpson's Paris Olympics chances take a hit in 100m butterfly flop
Cody Simpson's dream of swimming at the Paris Olympics has taken a hit after he sunk in his pet event, the 100m butterfly, at the Australian Swimming Championships.
The 26-year-old singer-songwriter finished eighth in the 100m butterfly final on Wednesday night, in a time of 53.48 seconds, which was two seconds slower than national champion Matthew Temple, and more than 1.6 seconds slower than Simpson's personal best.
The men's 100m butterfly is now one of the deepest events in Australian swimming, with Simpson, Temple, Kyle Chalmers and Olympian David Morgan as well as several rising stars vying for a spot in Paris.
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Cody Simpson. Getty
The high-level competition may force the performer to focus on the 100 metre freestyle relay, considering the success he had at the Commonwealth Games.
Simpson finished fifth in the butterfly event at the Commonwealth Games but enjoyed his greatest success in the relays — coming away with a gold and a silver medal for swimming in the heats of the 4x100m men's freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay.
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Simpson will have to make a decision soon on what he wants to do with just 15 months to go before the Paris Games.
Simpson has repeatedly said Paris is his main goal but he'll need to make a decision about which event he wants to take part in, with the Australian trials held in Melbourne in June, ahead of the World Championships, held in Fukuoka, Japan, in July.
Temple, the winner of the 100m butterfly nationals, said the event gave all the Olympic aspirants an idea of how they were tracking 15 months out from the Games.
Matthew Temple celebrates victory in the men's 100m butterfly at the 2023 Australian Swimming Championships. Getty
"I think these sort of meets each month are good stepping stones for world champs," Temple said.
"I went 53.0 at SA states and then 52.0 at New South Wales states, so to go 51.4 is a good step in the right direction."
He added that the depth in Australia's butterfly ranks was "exciting".
"It always keeps you on your toes with people coming up," Temple said.
"And yeah, for those boys - I know Jesse (Coleman, 18, who finished fifth) had a big week last week (at Australian age titles) - and Ben (Armbruster, 20, who finished second) to go under 52 twice in one day with also the 50 free, credit to him."