Swimming Body Moves to Halt Fabricated Statements Linked to Star Athlete Mollie O’Callaghan

Swimming Australia has acted to stop labeled as “fake news” and “false comments” attributed to swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan about trans swimmer Lia Thomas.

Online Posts Spread Fake Claims

Remarks credited to O’Callaghan but not shared from her official profiles has surfaced in posts on the social media site Facebook, as well as on the platform X, and implied the elite athlete would refuse to compete in the 2028 LA Games if a transgender swimmer is permitted to participate.

The statement wrongly credited to O’Callaghan included a provocative comment that “sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is absolutely an insult and a shame”.

Formal Statement from Swimming Australia

The organization backed the gold medalist in a statement labeled with “false statements associated with Australian team member Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“There are currently false statements credited to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan seen on social media posts,” the federation announced this past Sunday.

“Never has O’Callaghan been interviewed and made statements on trans swimmers.

“Facebook’s parent company has been notified of the fake news, and O’Callaghan and the federation have asked the content to be taken down.”

Current Status and Context

Updates that feature the comment linked to O’Callaghan were still visible on Facebook on Monday, while a platform official said that “we are investigating the appeal”.

The federation refused to give more details.

United States trans swimmer Lia Thomas is banned from competing in the women’s events under existing World Aquatics regulations and could not change the rules in the lead up to the Olympic event.

The governing body enacted guidelines in recent years which ban anyone who has undergone “any stage of male development” from the women’s division.

Regarding Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a multiple champion after beating teammate Ariarne Titmus in the 200-meter freestyle final at the recent Olympics along with participating in four relay team triumphs.

O’Callaghan secured a 200-meter freestyle world title to her honours in Japan in the summer.

O’Callaghan was racing in a international short course meet in the United States recently and outpaced the opponents by a significant margin to win the women’s 200m freestyle in a record time of one minute 50.77 seconds.