Speaking exclusively to Sunday Confidential, Brett Hawke, a former Olympic freestyle sprint star who contested the 2000 and 2004 Games, has confirmed Simpson is now a part of his high-profile training stable in the US and preparing for a legitimate tilt at Olympic gold in the men’s 100m butterfly.It comes just under a month since Simpson announced his plan to make a serious career switch — an announcement which was greeted with bemusement in the pop world and labelled by some as a ‘publicity stunt’.
However, Hawke says Simpson’s ambitious dream to wear the green and gold in 2024 is not a drill and confirmed he will be a part of the team that helps the singer realise a goal he has had since he was a child growing up in Brisbane. “It’s 5am in LA and we are about to dive into a cold pool,” Hawke said.“If I didn’t see potential I would be in bed right now.”Hawke, who now heads up the coaching program at the University of Southern California, clarified Simpson would be aiming for the Paris Games as COVID-19 continues to threaten the viability of this year’s Tokyo Olympics. “The goal is Paris 2024, certainly not Tokyo. You’ll have three years to watch him progress,” he said.Regarded as a solid age-group swimmer in Queensland a decade ago, Simpson tossed his swimming dreams aside at age 13 when he began his road to pop star fame.
Better known more recently as the boyfriend of Miley Cyrus before the pair broke up last November, it’s understood Simpson had quietly returned to the pool to maintain his fitness before making the decision to make a serious go of an Olympic tilt. The singer then went public in December when he recorded an impressive 100m butterfly time of 54.91sec at a competition in Los Angeles — a time that put him well under the Olympic qualifying standard of 56.87sec.“I just kind of go in super fresh not knowing what the hell to expect and gives me the freedom to swim without expectation,” Simpson said. “It’s wild especially being Australian and the swim community down there knowing I was good young but not expecting me to swim again or come back.”
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