CODY SIMPSON Welcome To Paradise: My Journey 100% official

SWIMMING DREAMS

I started taking swimming lessons when I was six years old at the Baildons' Superfish Swim School. I was immediately very comfortable in the water. I took to it right away. Andrew Baildon, who was an Olympic swimmer himself, saw she potential in me and was a great mentor for me from an early age.

It was only natural fore to want to take it to the next level, and when I was eight years old I signed up under elite coach Denis Cottrell at the Miami Swimming Club. Denied had coached my mum and Andrew and many other Olympians and world-record holders, so it meant a lot to me to be able to train under him.

When I was young, the swimming team was a lot of fum and a good way to goals and hard work comes from my parents. They always told me it was important to work hard and try your best. And they knew what they were talking about. My mum and dad swam competitively themselves, and they both made it pretty far in the national competitive circuit. It's remarkable to me that my mum and dad competed at such an elite level! My mum swam in the Pan Pacific Games and was ranked seventh in the world, and my dad was an Australian champion. They both were number one overall for certain events in Australia - Mum in the 100- and

200-meter breaststroke, and Dad in the 200-meter breaststroke - but they both got injured and didn't make it yo the Olympics to represent Australia.

They don't dwell on what might have been, but I think there was an extra gleam in their eye when I started to pursue the sport. They were clearly thrilled that I was passionate about swimming and reached a competitive level. There sense of discipline must have sunk in at some point, because even at just nine years old I really put my heart into improving at swimming.

I practiced three or four times a week. My races would be just 25 meters, but at the time it felt very important - and, of course, fun. Two years later, I swam in my first race and won it. It was a big moment for me. I was so proud of myself, and my parents ran over to me after the race to celebrate! I felt the energy of the cheers during that race and the excitement of winning for days afterwards. I still have that ribbon from that first race. From then on, I was hooked!

We had swimming meets every other weekend in the summer, and almost as frequently in the winter as well. As I became more competitive, it became a year-round sport for me. I loved the thrill of racing from an early age. At the meets I also loved messing around with my friends and eating the good food they gave at the pool café. My closest friends were always people I met through swimming. I still keep in touch with quite a few of them and they often come over to Los Angeles to stay and hand put with me.

I was a late bloomer and I felt fairly small standing beside some of the kids who had early growth spurts. I'm always gracious in defeat. I think how a person is when they lose shows a log about their character.