Miley Cyrus' Aussie ex Cody Simpson qualifies for Olympic trials
Pop star Cody Simpson has proven there's little he can't do when he sets his mind to it.
The former boyfriend of fellow music superstar Miley Cyrus has revealed on social media that he has qualified for Australia's Olympic swimming trials - to be held next year.
Simpson and Cyrus split earlier in 2020 but the Aussie has turned his focus to the pool after seemingly putting his music career on hold for now.
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The 23-year-old Aussie revealed that he decided to have another crack at his "first love" of swimming after ditching his sporting career to chase an opportunity in music at a young age.
Simpson easily made the qualifying benchmark of 56.87 by swimming the 100m butterfly in 54.9 seconds to seal his place at the Australian Olympic trials.
The event will take place next year in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games, with Simpson taking to social media to express his delight at qualifying.
“I just qualified for my first Olympic trials,” he wrote. “I’d love to share this personal milestone and let you in on my current journey as an athlete that I’ve kept relatively low key until now.
“Growing up competing, and then inevitably having to cut my career short as 13-year-old Australian champion when I was given an opportunity in music that I couldn’t refuse!
“I have had the chance to experience so much as a musician from touring in arenas around the world, releasing top 10 albums, playing a leading man on Broadway, publishing a work of poetry, travelling with and speaking at the United Nations on environmental and oceanic matters and much more.
Pop star achieved feat at ‘first attempt’
Simpson’s coach Brett Hawke says the Aussie qualified with his “first attempt in 10 years”.
“We’ve been training only … in a country club pool for five months during the pandemic,” Hawke wrote on Instagram.
“He did his first set of training dives in a real pool two weeks ago. He qualified for the Australian Olympic trials in his first attempt.
“Not bad for a pop star.”
Simpson even got a congratulatory message from the most successful swimmer in Olympic Games history - American Michael Phelps.
“Lfg!! Congrats mate,” wrote Phelps, who won 28 Olympic medals throughout his swimming career.
Australian Olympic legend Ian Thorpe also reacted to Simpson's incredible feat with a series of thumbs-up emojis.
The Tokyo Games were due to take place this year but were pushed back to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Olympic Games are currently scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021.
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