“I thought if I can’t be there competing, how can I contribute to my team and my friends, and what better way to do that than through music?” Cody Simpson reflected on his shift in focus. As the Paris 2024 Olympics approach, not every athlete’s journey unfolds as planned. The Australian swimmer, whose Olympic dreams faced a setback, is now set to make a splash differently—by playing a pivotal role in the Opening Ceremony. Just two days after his hopes of joining the Dolphins swimming team were dashed, Simpson was back in the recording studio. His unexpected role promises to add an extra layer of excitement to the celebration of global athleticism and cultural exchange.

In a recent update from Spotify, fans could see Cody Simpson in a video announcing the release of his song “Fly.” Dedicated to the Dolphins Swim Team, the song was recorded just two days after he failed to make the Australian Olympic team in the 2024 trials. In the video, Simpson shared, “I hope it also inspires you to chase your deepest dreams and desires as this song is a reflection on what I’ve been doing for the last four years chasing mine as a professional athlete.”

It’s set to release tonight, on the day of the Olympic opening ceremony and is a tribute to his life as a professional swimmer. On his Instagram story, he shared a little preview of the song. Sung in his melodious and deep voice, channelling the anthemic power of U2, the lyrics are, “Oh, when the going gets tough, it’s when the tough get up and go.” The album cover is a shot of Simpson’s back as he is partway submerged in the swimming pool, as a nod to his choice of sport. There’s also a shot of his left hand which features a tattoo of an anchor. He said about the experience of making the song, “It was so cathartic for me to do that, after years of being mentally and physically zapped from training.” 

After being discovered via Youtube in 2010, the Simpson family moved to LA so he could make it big as an actor and singer. However in the last four years, he put his music career on hold. Now Cody Simpson hopes to perform the song in Paris for the Dolphins. But Simpson revealed that he had “a loose idea” for the song since last year. It aims to capture the feeling of chasing his dream and “the mindset that is required for that kind of commitment and that fire I felt that drew me back to the sport and allowed me to grind as hard as I did for the last four years.” Of course the first person to hear it was his girlfriend and swimmer Emma McKeon. He said, “fortunately she likes most of (my music) and she was stoked to hear the songs come out of what we were both doing.” 

Cody Simpson’s Olympic dreams: A setback on the path to future triumphs

Cody Simpson returned to swimming in 2019 and became prominent after he qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games as part of the Australian Swimming Team. There he won a team gold as well as a silver medal as part of the relay team. In the 100m butterfly event too, he showed off his competitive prowess. Simpson comes from a line of swimmers. His mother Angie and father Brad were both swimmers who competed in the 1987 Pan-Pacific Games and 1994 Commonwealth Games respectively. Simpson himself is a promising junior swimmer. He won two gold medals at the Queensland state championships in 2009 at the age of 12. 

This year during the Olympic trials in Brisbane, held in April, he competed in the 100m butterfly event. In the finals, he came fifth with a time of 51.79s, just over half a second short of Swimming Australia’s qualification time of 51.17s. Moreover, in the 100m freestyle prelims, he clocked a time of 49.04s and did not qualify for the finals. He had shown some strong performances in the previous qualifying rounds but failed in the final step. “It’s bittersweet,” Simpson told reporters, “But I did what I could do — and that’s all you can do.” Australia is going to be represented by Cameron McEvoy in the 50m freestyle, Kyle Chalmers in the 100m freestyle, Zac Stubblety-Cook in the 200m breaststroke as well as Elijah Winnington and Sam Short in the middle-distance races.