Cody Simpson has bid an emotional farewell to swimming after he failed to qualify for Paris 2024.
Having grown up in the pool but found fame with music, Simpson returned swimming for the first time in a decade in 2019 in a bid to qualify for Paris.
The 100m butterfly final at the Australian trials in Brisbane on Saturday night was Simpson's last hope of securing a spot. He finished fifth, and was also about half a second outside Swimming Australia's Olympic qualification time.
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In a post on Monday afternoon accompanying a photo of his Dolphins badge No.308, Simpson said he'd left "nothing to the unknown".
"All you can do is everything you can to take what you've been given as far as you can take it," he said.
"You owe yourself the honour of cultivating your talents with as much fervour and intensity as you can. The privilege of becoming what you're capable of becoming.
"I left nothing to the unknown these past four years and I can now rest knowing I put my pedal to the floor every day.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8TWTOCtGwS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
"(I) covered every other little detail to take this as far it could go, and it sure went a hell of a ways."
Having been a member of the Dolphins team that won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Simpson could've made that team for Paris with a strong showing in the individual race, but bombed out of the event in the heats.
Later that day, he won the 100m freestyle B final with a PB of 48.67. Had he done enough in the heats to make the A final, that time would've been good enough for sixth, and a spot in the relay team.
Leading up to the trials, the 27-year-old had indicated this would be his one and only shot at making an Olympic team before making a likely return to music.
While he won't be there as an athlete, Simpson will likely be in Paris to support partner Emma McKeon and his former Dolphins teammates.
"I made sure I was a gangster in my training, meticulous in my preparation and fearless in my competing every step of the way," he said.
"I'm grateful for a huge run in the short amount of time I have been a professional athlete and I wouldn't trade a moment.
"I promise I will never stop trying to do special things with my life. Shoot for the moon, land among the stars.
"My shot has landed me in a constellation of stars otherwise known as that elusive club, the Australian Swim Team, forever.
"Thank you swimming."
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