{"id":402682,"date":"2024-06-13T21:53:41","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T21:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=402682"},"modified":"2024-06-13T23:05:19","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T23:05:19","slug":"bizarre-twist-as-simpson-eyes-last-throw-of-the-dice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=402682","title":{"rendered":"Bizarre twist as Simpson eyes 'last throw of the dice'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brisbane:<\/strong> Cody Simpson<\/a>'s\ufeff coach drew a roar of laughter at this week's Australian swimming trials when asked if his multi-talented student would make the Olympic<\/a> team.<\/p>\n

"If I could predict that I'd be at the casino tonight," Michael Bohl quipped to a scrum of reporters at Brisbane Aquatic Centre.<\/p>\n

The veteran coach went on to give a measured response, neither putting full faith in the pop sensation's chances nor writing him off.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Chalmers reveals 'degenerative' issue after booking Paris pass\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Teen star locks in Olympic debut as champ falls short<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bunnies shake-up begins with rival set to swoop on star<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The 27-year-old had faint hopes of being a 100m freestyle relay swimmer in Paris, but those hopes vanished when he was bundled out in the heats on Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Later on the same day he won the 100m freestyle B final with a personal best of 48.67, which would have earned him sixth place in the A final and probably landed him on the Paris Games relay team.<\/p>\n

He hit his straps in the wrong race.<\/p>\n

The 100m butterfly, his chief event, is now his only remaining avenue to the Dolphins team for the Paris Games.<\/p>\n

\"Cody<\/p>\n

Presuming Simpson is among the eight fastest in Saturday morning's heats, \ufeffhe will book his place in Saturday night's final.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most intriguing question hanging over the trials \u2014 the question of whether the chart-topping musician will realise his surreal dream of becoming an Olympian \u2014 will then be answered in less than 60 seconds.<\/p>\n

He's tasked with finishing in the top two and meeting Swimming Australia's Olympic entry standard\ufeff of 51.17 seconds.<\/p>\n

As long as he finishes second, he could make the team if he hits World Aquatics' benchmark, which happens to be smack bang on his personal best of 51.67, but fails to nail Swimming Australia's entry standard. That's because selectors may decide they want a back-up butterfly swimmer for the medley relay in case Matt Temple, by far and away Australia's best male butterfly swimmer, suffers an injury. But Bohl and Simpson know clinging to that hope is clutching at straws.<\/p>\n

\"Top<\/p>\n

"You just don't know," Bohl said of Simpson's Olympic chances.<\/p>\n

"He's looking good, but the reality is you've got to go off rankings. He's about fourth or fifth or sixth in the 100m fly.<\/p>\n

Watch Australia's Paris 2024 swimming trials on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

"For him to make this team is going to take a huge swim. It's possible, but it's expected that it's going to be a challenge for him to do. I'm not saying he's going to make it, I'm not saying he's not going to make it."<\/p>\n

Simpson will take to the heats as the equal-fifth-fastest swimmer. Temple's lifetime best of 50.25 is the Australian record, Shaun Champion's is 51.28, Kyle Chalmers' 51.61 and Jesse Coleman's 51.66. The fastest Simpson and Ben Armbruster have gone is 51.67.<\/p>\n

Since returning to the pool in 2019, Simpson has \ufefflived and breathed a relentless pursuit to whittle his personal bests down, both in the 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle. But the punishing reality of high-performance swimming, especially in the sprint events, is with every hundredth of a second that's chopped off, the pursuit of faster times becomes increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n

\"Cody<\/p>\n

"Swimming is tricky," Simpson told reporters after tumbling out of contention for a 100m freestyle relay spot.<\/p>\n

"You're training for a long time for really marginal gains, microscopic sometimes. I have just been banging at the brick wall trying to get to that next level, and the faster you get, the harder it is to keep getting faster."<\/p>\n

Simpson has been slogging through 18 hours a week of swimming training, as well as four hours a week of gym work, in his bid to qualify for the Paris Games.\ufeff<\/p>\n

After two ferocious laps of the Brisbane Aquatic Centre pool on Saturday night, Simpson, the partner of Emma McKeon, will know if he'll be joining Australia's most decorated Olympian on the Dolphins team.<\/p>\n

\"Emma<\/p>\n

"It's a challenge, but he's as ready as he's ever going to be," Bohl said.<\/p>\n

"This is his last throw of the dice\ufeff and we're hoping he can get up and just get the best out of himself."<\/p>\n

Regardless of what happens in those 50-odd seconds on Saturday night, Simpson will always be able to say he represented Australia in the pool.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Gold Coast product will always be able \ufeffto say he won a gold medal with Australia in the pool. He was a squad member of the 100m freestyle relay team that won gold at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, having swum in the heats.<\/p>\n

\"Cody<\/p>\n

"What he did making that Commonwealth Games team is what he set out to achieve. He wanted to make an Australian team," Bohl said.<\/p>\n

"He desperately wants to make this if he can, but making that Australian team was a win for him. Being out of the sport for a long number of years and coming back and getting in is just testament to his will power and his discipline and determination. He's just been great.<\/p>\n

"We're all very, very proud of him and wish him all the best."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brisbane: Cody Simpson's\ufeff coach drew a roar of laughter at this week's Australian swimming trials when asked if his multi-talented student would make the Olympic […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":402684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=402682"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":402690,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402682\/revisions\/402690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/402684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=402682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=402682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=402682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}