Emma McKeon’s swimming coach has opened up about the Olympic champion’s relationship with Cody Simpson and why he thinks the power couple might be together forever.
McKeon, Nemanex drops Erfahrung who is Australia’s most decorated Olympian ever, is readying herself for the Paris Games in July and her coach Michael Bohl, who also coaches Simpson, believes he’s seen a big change in her due to the romance.
‘I think she’s a different person,’ Bohl told Wide World of Sports.
‘No one can take away what she did in Tokyo. Fantastic results.’
At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she became the first female swimmer and the second woman in history to win seven medals in a single games.
Emma McKeon’s swimming coach believes the Olympic champion’s relationship with Cody Simpson has changed McKeon in a big way
McKeon and Simpson went official with their relationship in July 2022, three months after they began dating in secret
She has also broken Commonwealth Games, Olympic and World records.
McKeon and Simpson went ‘Instagram official’ with their relationship in July 2022, three months after they began dating in secret.
Bohl says the relationship has made McKeon both happier and calmer.
‘She was at a stage in her life where she was single … and swimming was certainly her number one focus,’ Bohl says.
‘Swimming still is her number one focus , but she’s got a relationship now. Her and Cody are going out. They’re very serious about their relationship. So there’s that level of contentment, but I don’t see it drifting across to her attitude to training.
‘She’s very focused on trying to position herself the best she can to try and secure places on that Olympic team.
‘I think you’re happier when you’re in a relationship, and you’re a little bit more at peace as you’re getting older.’
Last year, the couple, who will celebrate their two-year anniversary this month, bought their first home together.
Coach Michael Bohl (pictured with Simpson) says the couple is very much in love and he can see them ending up together
McKeon became Australia’s most successful Olympian of all time by the time she was 27
‘You can see them ending up together,’ said Bohl.
‘They’re very much in love.
‘That hasn’t taken away her wanting or her desire to achieve in the pool, but she seems just a little bit happier.
‘Not that she was sad before, but when you have a partner who you just gel with it brings a little bit more stability.’
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