Cody Simpson's Commonwealth Games campaign was "special" according to the pop star turned swimmer, giving rise to a newfound optimism for the 25-year-old heading into the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Simpson's impressive showing at Birmingham has seen the entertainer selected for Australia's squad for this weekend's Duel in the Pool against the USA.
He wasn't named in Australia's initial squad of 12 but was given an opportunity due to his strong showing at the Commonwealth Games. His presence will undoubtedly draw interest to the rare exhibition event.
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Simpson claimed a gold medal in the 4x100m freestyle relay and silver in the 4x100m medley relay in Birmingham as a heat swimmer, while he was fifth to touch the wall in the final of the 100m butterfly in a time of 52.06 seconds, just outside his personal best of 51.79 seconds.
"I always said that anything in advance of Paris would be a bonus for me, and, you know, to have already been able to be a part of the Games this year was something that, you know, I didn't necessarily expect to be remotely competitive until this year anyway," Simpson said ahead of the event.
"So to have already sort of been able to have that experience, best experience representing Australia was very special.
"So it just gives me hope and optimism for future campaigns. And, you know, my improvement over the next few years."
The Duel in the Pool will see Australia and the USA face off for the first time since 2007, with the likes of Simpson's girlfriend Emma McKeon, backstroker Kaylee McKeown, freestyle star Mollie O'Callaghan, along with Mack Horton, Shayna Jack, Zac Stubblety-Cook and Mitch Larkin all competing.
The event will begin with an open water race at Bondi Beach on Friday, before two nights of action in the pool at Sydney Olympic Park this Saturday and Sunday.
"It'll be my first time racing the Americans. So looking forward to that, coming up off the Comm Games. It's an unreal, first international racing experience for me. And to be able to do this off the back of it," he added.
"There's so many, like unconventional events and things planned for Duel in the Pool, you know, a lot of things that we didn't do in training, it'd be kind of cool to be able to bring those into, you know, a spectator environment."
Simpson and McKeon, who became Australia's most successful athlete in Commonwealth Games history in Birmingham, enjoyed a holiday in Europe together following the campaign that involved plenty of speculation regarding their relationship and Australian teammate Kyle Chalmers. He said it was satisfying watching her achieve in the face of adversity.
"The baggage was pretty heavy coming out. Well, the hardware now, but it was, it was special to see how to do so well to sort of achieve that, that milestone in her career and in sporting history," he said.
"We had a little bit of time, we had it probably a week afterwards to kind of reset, but we were still swimming on, you know, our, quote, unquote, holiday.
"So we knew it was going to be a really tight turnaround to come back and, and do this. You know, it's hard to take too much of a break in between."
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