Grant Hackett reveals insight into Cody Simpson’s gruelling Olympic training and why he backs the singer for future success in swimming
Australian swimming legend Grant Hackett won seven Olympic medals between 2000 and 2008 – three of which were gold.
And now Grant has become a mentor to singer Cody Simpson, who is now preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics trials.
Cody, 24, plans to compete in the 100m butterfly race at the event, and reached out to the 40-year-old for diet and training tips in early 2020.
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Giving his opinion: Grant Hackett (pictured), 40, has weighed in on Cody Simpson’s training to get to the 2024 Paris Olympics, saying he needs to make the biggest gains in the next 12 to 18 months, but he does have thing ‘going for him’ in the pool
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph’s Confidential, Grant said Cody needed to make the biggest gains in the next 12 to 18 months as it would ‘demonstrate if this is realistically something he can achieve’.
‘Look, this is Mount Everest for him and I don’t think he is under an illusions about that,’ the triple Olympian said.
‘He needs to be super quick, even to compete with the Australian guys for a place on the (Olympic) team.
‘But the one thing going for him is the fact he has the physique, he has the experience… he’s not starting for scratch.’
In fact, Grant said Cody’s swim coach Brett Hawke has sent him a few videos from training to show how dedicated he is: ‘[Cody] has been throwing up during sessions… that’s the level to which he is going.’
Giving it his all: Cody (pictured) plans to compete in the 100m butterfly race at the event, and has been training to exhaustion. According to Grant even ‘throwing up’ during toughs sessions
Legend: Australian swimming legend Grant Hackett won seven Olympic medals between 2000 and 2008 – three of which were gold
Cody qualified for the Olympic Games trials by swimming the 100m butterfly in 54.9 seconds in December, easily beating past the qualifying benchmark of 56.87.
Announcing the exciting news via Instagram, he uploaded a photo of himself posing triumphantly by a pool in his swimming shorts, alongside an impassioned essay about his dreams of Olympic stardom coming to fruition.
‘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,’ he wrote.
Achievement: Cody qualified for the Olympic Games trials by swimming the 100m butterfly in 54.9 seconds in December, easily beating past the qualifying benchmark of 56.87
‘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.
‘For years I had been fueled by the silent fire in my stomach of returning to my first love, the sport of swimming, with the idea that 2020 would be my year to have a crack at training again.
‘After only five months back in the water training with my incredible coach, I was able to take out a win and secure a spot at next years Australian Olympic trials in the 100 fly.’
Support: Cody’s swimming coach Brett Hawke (right) has praised Cody’s efforts on Instagram, revealing it was the singer’s first attempt at qualifying for the Olympics in a decade