Simpson trained as a member of the British Olympic rowing squad for the 1984 summer games, but failed to make the coxless four.
Gold Fever was the name of a BBC documentary, shown in August 2000, which followed Steve Redgrave and his British rowing coxless four teammates Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell in the years leading up to the Sydney Olympics, where Redgrave was looking to claim his fifth consecutive gold medal.
In 2001, he won a second World Championship in the men's coxless four with Steve Williams, Rick Dunn and Toby Garbett.
In August 2000, the month prior to coaching the coxless four to gold in Sydney, he took part in a 3-part BBC documentary entitled Gold Fever.
Cormac Folan of Barna represented Ireland in Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's coxless four, at the 2008 Summer Olympics.