Cody Simpson shares a laugh with Ian Thorpe at the 2021 Australian Swimming Championships

Cody Simpson and Ian Thorpe enjoyed a light-hearted conversation as they stood poolside at the 2021 Australian Swimming Championships on the Gold Coast on Thursday.

The two men were seen laughing as they chatted at the event, which is being held at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre until Sunday.

Cody, 24, is competing at the championships, as he vies for a spot on the Australian Olympic swim team.

And the Golden Thing singer had Ian, 38, in stitches of laughter as they stood alongside each other.

Cody announced his return to swimming on Instagram in December, after giving up the sport to pursue a singing career in Los Angeles.

‘I just qualified for my first Olympic trials. 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 began in a lengthy post. 

‘Growing up competing, and then inevitably having to cut my career short as a 13-year-old Australian champion when I received an opportunity in music that I couldn’t refuse… 

‘Now almost exactly 10 years later, here I am poolside once more. For years I had been fuelled by the silent fire in my stomach of returning to the sport of swimming, with the idea that 2020 would be the year I’d try training again.’ 

Meanwhile, Ian is a five-time Olympic gold medallist, the most won by any Australian athlete.

The former swimming champion reflected on his stellar swimming career in a sentimental post on Instagram in September.

‘Twenty years ago today I competed at my first Olympics and won my first Gold Medal. This was also Australia’s first Gold Medal at “the best Games ever”,’ he wrote at the time.

‘The moment was huge, the crowd was insane and the feeling was incredible. A night I will never forget… and there was more to come!’