It’s the hottest topic in the pool and it’s got plenty of tongues wagging – the tricky love triangle involving Australia’s most decorated Olympian Emma McKeon, her new boyfriend, popstar-turned-champion- swimmer Cody Simpson, and her ex-flame, dual Olympian Kyle Chalmers.
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And according to one well-placed swimming insider, the much-talked-about spat that began two weeks ago at the Australian Swimming Championships between Kyle, 23, and Cody, 25, is not even close to being resolved.
“This has everyone talking about our sport for all the wrong reasons,” the insider tells New Idea.
“This was supposed to be the trials for team selection for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and next month’s World Championships in Budapest. Instead, it has overshadowed all the great stuff that happened in the pool!
“The bottom line is Emma broke it off with Kyle last year, and is now in a serious relationship with Cody – that should be the end of it, but unfortunately it looks like it could get worse before it gets better.”
Indeed, playing out more like an episode from The Bold and the Beautiful, it all began last year when Emma, 28, split with Kyle shortly after the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Golden couple
Recently, Emma began dating Cody, who was a gun junior swimmer before he headed over to Hollywood to focus on his music.
The loved-up pair are believed to be “head over heels in love” and have already moved in together on the Gold Coast, where they train under super-coach Michael Bohl.
Everything appeared to be going along swimmingly, until Cody, whose remarkable comeback in the pool continues to make headlines across the world, entered the recent trials in his pet event, butterfly. He was a sure chance at being selected for his first Australian team.
“This is where it gets messy,” explains the insider. “‘King Kyle’, as he’s best known, is recovering from recent shoulder surgery.
“Everyone knows he’s not a butterflier – he’s a champion freestyler. But at the last minute Kyle decided he was going to swim butterfly against Cody in the trials. Kyle was clear if he qualified, he wouldn’t be going to Worlds [the World Championships].
“Cody finished an impressive third, Kyle second, and Matt Temple was first. Just when it looked like Cody would get a spot, it emerged that Kyle would in fact swim at Worlds. That put Cody’s international debut on hold. The whole crazy saga really is straight out of a soap opera!”
In the end, Cody was deservedly named in his first-ever Australian team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. For the kid who dared to dream big, he finally has a chance to show the world what he’s made of.
“Cody and Emma are two of the most popular swimmers on the team, and when they board the plane for the Commonwealth Games, they can hold their heads high knowing they deserve to be there,” says the insider.
“Now if Kyle is on the same flight, that could get a little awkward when it comes to seat allocation!”
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