Swimming Body Moves to Suppress Fabricated Statements Attributed to Champion Swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan
The national swimming federation has taken steps to stop what it calls “fabricated stories” and “fabricated quotes” linked to swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan regarding trans swimmer Lia Thomas.
Online Posts Circulate Fake Statements
Remarks credited to O’Callaghan but not posted from her official profiles has appeared in posts on the social media site Facebook, as well as on the platform X, and suggested the elite athlete would boycott in the Los Angeles Olympics if a transgender athlete is cleared to race.
The quote falsely attributed to O’Callaghan contained a controversial statement that “sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is really an affront and a embarrassment”.
Formal Statement from the Federation
Swimming Australia backed the gold medalist in a statement headlined with “fake quotes associated with Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.
“At present, there are false statements credited to team member Mollie O’Callaghan circulating on platform posts,” the organization stated recently.
“Never has O’Callaghan been interviewed and given remarks on trans swimmers.
“Facebook’s parent company has been notified of the fabricated stories, and O’Callaghan and Swimming Australia have asked the posts to be deleted.”
Current Status and Context
Content that contain the comment linked to O’Callaghan were still visible on Facebook on Monday, while a company representative said that “we are looking into the request”.
The organization refused to give further comment.
American trans swimmer Lia Thomas is prohibited from participating in the women’s division under present international swimming guidelines and failed to overturn the rules in the period before the Paris Olympics.
World Aquatics enacted guidelines in recent years which forbid anyone who has gone through “any phase of puberty as a male” from the female category.
Regarding Mollie O’Callaghan
O’Callaghan is a five-fold champion after defeating teammate Ariarne Titmus in the freestyle event championship race at the 2024 Paris Games along with participating in four relay team triumphs.
The 21-year-old earned a 200-meter freestyle global championship to her accolades in Japan in recent months.
O’Callaghan was competing in a World Cup event in Indiana last weekend and defeated the competitors by almost two seconds to take out the women’s 200m freestyle in a new best of 1:50.77.
