Swimming Body Acts to Halt Fabricated Quotes Linked to Star Swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan

The national swimming federation has acted to stop what it calls “false information” and “made-up statements” attributed to Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan regarding transgender athlete Lia Thomas.

Online Content Spread False Statements

A statement linked to O’Callaghan but not published from her social media accounts has surfaced in updates on Facebook, as well as on Twitter, and suggested the Olympic champion would refuse to compete in the 2028 LA Games if a transgender athlete is allowed to compete.

The quote incorrectly linked to O’Callaghan contained a controversial statement that “sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is absolutely an disgrace and a embarrassment”.

Formal Response from Swimming Australia

Swimming Australia backed the Olympic champion in a release titled with “false statements associated with Australian team member Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“At present, there are made-up comments credited to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan circulating on online content,” the federation announced recently.

“Not at any point has O’Callaghan been interviewed and made statements on trans swimmers.

“The platform has been informed of the fake news, and O’Callaghan and the federation have requested the items to be taken down.”

Latest Developments and Background

Content that contain the statement linked to O’Callaghan were still online on the platform on Monday, while a Meta spokesperson stated that “we are investigating the appeal”.

The organization declined to make additional statements.

American trans swimmer Lia Thomas is barred from participating in the female category under existing World Aquatics guidelines and failed to overturn the regulations in the period before the recent Games.

The international federation put in place rules in 2022 which prohibit anyone who has undergone “any stage of puberty as a male” from the women’s competition.

Regarding Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a five-time champion after outpacing fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 200-meter freestyle final at the Paris event along with being part of several team victories.

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

O’Callaghan was competing in a World Cup competition in the United States recently and outpaced the opponents by almost two seconds to win the women’s 200m freestyle in a new best of a record time.