Pop star Cody Simpson upstages Kyle Chalmers at Australian swimming trials

Singer-turned-swimmer Cody Simpson is on track for a remarkable world championships debut after upstaging Olympic freestyle gold medallist Kyle Chalmers at the Australian national championships in Adelaide.

Simpson, 25, won his heat in the 100 metres butterfly in a personal best time of 51.79 seconds, qualifying second for the final later on Wednesday behind defending champion Matt Temple (51.64).

Chalmers, who won 100m freestyle gold at Rio and silver at Tokyo, was third quickest. Simpson’s swim was well under governing body Fina’s 51.96 A qualifying time for next month’s world championships in Budapest.

The top three in the final under the A time also qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Meanwhile, Shayna Jack is on track to return to the Australian swim team after winning her 100 metres freestyle heat on the opening day in Adelaide. Jack (53.27) was equal second-quickest into Wednesday night’s 100m freestyle final, clocking the same time as Meg Harris, with Mollie O’Callaghan (52.83) the pacesetter.

Jack was initially banned for four years after testing positive to the banned substance Ligandrol about three weeks before the 2019 world championships. The Queenslander appealed her ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport which reduced her suspension to two years, finding Jack did not knowingly ingest the substance.

Jack’s automatic selection for an individual 100m freestyle swim at the looming worlds and Commonwealth Games is complicated by the absence of Olympic champion Emma McKeon from the nationals.

McKeon’s gold medal in the event at last year’s Tokyo Olympics gives her automatic selection but she will miss the world titles to focus on the Commonwealth Games. That means Jack needs to finish in the top