[Source: ENews]

Cody Simpson—the pop singer known for hits like “La Da Dee” and “Home to Mama”—reflected on leaving music behind for several years in order to compete as a pro swimmer on the Australian Swim Team.

Cody Simpson is diving into new waters.

The “La Da Dee” singer provided insight into why he “disappeared” from the Hollywood spotlight for several years and returned to his home country of Australia.

In a message posted to his X July 27, Cody quoted a question he receives from fans a lot over the past few years, writing, “Where did you go?”

And in response to the inquiry, the 28-year-old also shared several clips of himself training as a swimmer, including him doing pull-ups in a gym, doing laps in a pool and even competing in a televised race.

“You look happier,” he wrote atop the video, referring to another comment he receives often, before replying, “Thanks I disappeared to grind my ass off for years & achieve my childhood dream of making the Australian Swim Team.”

Indeed, Cody—who swam competitively before breaking through as a pop star in the 2010s with songs like “Home to Mama” and “iYiYi”—qualified for and joined Australia’s national swim team in 2022 after competing in the Australian Swimming Championships in Adelaide, where he finished in third place behind Olympians Matt Temple and Kyle Chalmers.

He wound up training with the Australian Swim Team for two years, but ultimately left competitive swimming behind in 2024, when he didn’t qualify to go to the Paris Olympics during the Commonwealth Games in the U.K.

“I left nothing to the unknown these past 4 years,” he wrote on Instagram in June 2024, “and I can now rest knowing I put my pedal to the floor every day and covered every other little detail to take this as far it could go and it sure went a hell of a ways.”

And while Cody’s journey as a professional athlete may have come to an end, he insisted that he had plenty more adventures in store for him in the future. In fact, the musician released his first singles in nearly two years—“On My Mind (Forever Version) and “Fly”—shortly after announcing his retirement from the sport.

“I promise I will never stop trying to do special things with my life,” Cody said. “Shoot for the moon.. land among the stars.”

And it seems like he has more new music in the works as well.

Alongside a clip of him waking up on the couch and reaching for a guitar, Cody quipped on Instagram July 22, “The pop star in my closet defrosting after I cloned then froze him for 5 years so I could use his body to swim.”

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