Swimming Body Takes Action to Halt False Statements Linked to Champion Swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan
The national swimming federation has acted to stop labeled as “fabricated stories” and “fabricated quotes” attributed to Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan concerning trans swimmer Lia Thomas.
Online Content Circulate Inaccurate Statements
A comment credited to O’Callaghan but not published from her online platforms has appeared in updates on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on X, and claimed the swimming star would not participate in the 2028 Olympics if a transgender swimmer is cleared to race.
The statement incorrectly linked to O’Callaghan featured a provocative remark that “sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is absolutely an insult and a shame”.
Official Response from the Federation
The national body backed the Olympic champion in a announcement labeled with “fake quotes attributed to Australian team member Mollie O’Callaghan”.
“At present, there are fabricated quotes credited to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan appearing on platform posts,” the organization announced on Sunday.
“Never has O’Callaghan been interviewed and made statements on transgender athletes.
“Meta has been informed of the fake news, and O’Callaghan and the federation have requested the posts to be removed.”
Current Status and Context
Updates that contain the comment attributed to O’Callaghan were still online on Facebook on the following day, while a Meta spokesperson commented that “we are looking into the request”.
Swimming Australia did not offer more details.
American transgender athlete Lia Thomas is prohibited from competing in the female category under existing governing body guidelines and failed to overturn the rules in the run-up to the Olympic event.
The international federation enacted guidelines in 2022 which prohibit anyone who has gone through “any part of male development” from the women’s division.
About Mollie O’Callaghan
O’Callaghan is a five-time champion after outpacing fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 200-meter freestyle final at the 2024 Paris Games along with contributing to several team victories.
O’Callaghan added a 200-meter freestyle global championship to her honours in Tokyo in recent months.
O’Callaghan was racing in a international short course meet in Indiana over the weekend and defeated the field by a significant margin to win the women’s 200m freestyle in a record time of 1:50.77.
