Australian Celebrities

How Cody Simpson snagged queen of the pool Emma McKeon

“I saw her as this special person.”
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They say the true test for any new relationship is wading through the tough times, and when it comes to Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson, there’s no second-guessing anymore – the swimming sweethearts are the real deal!

After Cody went public with their romance in July 2022 in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games that year with a “hard launch” post of the duo in Barcelona, the lovebirds have only gone from strength to strength both in their swimming careers and relationship.

WATCH NOW: Emma McKeon discusses her history-making Olympic medal count.

Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Cody took to his Instagram account to share a sweet tribute to his girlfriend to celebrate their anniversary. 

“2 precious years with this one,” he wrote, sharing an adorable picture of the pair locking lips, his loving girlfriend Emma commemorating the milestone with a repost to her Instagram story.

In December 2022, Emma provided some insight into her “pretty easy” relationship with Cody in a rare interview about her personal life with The Courier Mail.

“I mean, we’ve got the same schedule, we’re tired at the same times, hungry at the same times, all that kind of stuff, so it makes living very easy,” she shared at the time. 

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Celebrating two years together. (Credit: Instagram)

In the two years since they started dating, the couple have shared several relationship updates to their social media accounts and celebrating several exciting milestones together. 

Most recently in January, Cody was every bit the proud boyfriend when Emma was named Young Australian of the Year for 2024.

“The most special human @emmamckeon. Congratulations my love. So proud of you,” he wrote at the time.

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Birthday fun. (Credit: Instagram)

Mere weeks earlier Emma shared a sweet birthday message to her love, who turned 27 on January 11. 

“Happy birthday @codysimpson ❤️ Always making me smile, always making me laugh.”

Keeping the good times going, the gold-medal Olympic athlete shared another snap of the pair continuing the celebrations and wrote “The week for celebrating you 🎂.”

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Christmas joy. (Credit: Instagram)

Wrapping up an exciting year (including some World Swimming Championship wins), Emma shared this photo with Cody, the pair posing in front of a Christmas tree after spending the day with Emma’s family.

“A special end to 2023 ❤️,” she captioned this photo.

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Love is in the air! (Credit: Instagram)

Cody and Emma were matchy in a stylish black and white tuxedo and gown as they attended the wedding of fellow Australian Olympic swimmer Mack Horton and his high school sweetheart Ella Walter.

“How good is love 🤍⛪️🕊️,” Emma captioned this sweet snap.”

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A wine of a time. (Credit: Instagram)

To celebrate Cody’s 26th birthday, he and Emma jetted off to the south coast of New South Wales for a winery tour.

“South coast toast to the birthday boy last week 🎂,” wrote Emma.

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Ringing in the new year. (Credit: Instagram)

The lovebirds celebrated the new year with their family and friends presumably in Cody’s hometown of the Gold Coast. 

2022 was our year 🤍 Excited to see what the next year brings,” Emma wrote in the caption of this smiley snap with her boyfriend.

Speaking of an exciting year, 2023 was also when Cody and Emma took a huge next step in their relationship, the pair purchasing a five bedroom home on the Gold Coast, valued at $1.8 million.

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Full of support. (Credit: Instagram)

Cody made a sweet tribute to his partner in December 2023 as she competed at the Queensland Swimming Championships: “This woman never ceases to inspire me just simply being the human being she is. Humble, kind, and full of dreams,” he wrote at the time.

The same month, Cody spoke about how his girlfriend kept him grounded amidst his fame. 

“Emma is a huge part of my life, and has been such a positive influence on me in terms of keeping me grounded since we met.”

“She is a really calming presence, she has really helped me, and she just impresses me so much, she is such a wonderful person.”

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Stepping out in style. (Credit: Instagram)

In November 2022, Emma and Cody made their red carpet debut at an event with Swimming Queensland, captioning this photo with “Life is good 🖤.”

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Spooky stuff. (Credit: Instagram)

This Joker celebrated Halloween that same year with a corpse bride.

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Smiles in the sun. (Credit: Instagram)

On a sunny September spring day, the duo ventured to the beach, where Cody captured this heartwarming selfie.

“Days like these with you ❤️,” wrote Emma.

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Looking dapper. (Credit: Instagram)

“Swimmer of the Year Awards with my number 1’s. And a very special night celebrating with @davidmckeon on his incredible swimming career,” wrote Emma as she stepped out with her beau for a fancy family occasion in August 2022.

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International love. (Credit: Instagram)

The couple went “official” with their romance (at least on social media) while they were travelling around Europe in July 2022.

This photo was taken in Venice, Italy, with love.

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The hard launch. (Credit: Instagram)

“A brief rendezvous in Barcelona with my love,” Cody wrote as he revealed he was dating Emma for the first time to his millions of Instagram followers.

That same month, Cody’s mum Angie told 7News that her son had never been so happy: “I’ve never seen him so happy. Like this is the most authentically happy I’ve ever seen him in my life.”

Emma’s mum and dad shared similar sentiments: [It’] probably the happiest I’ve seen her, I’m going to say, over the last number of years.”

Awww!

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