Swimming Organization Acts to Stop Fake Comments Attributed to Champion Swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan
The national swimming federation has moved to shut down labeled as “false information” and “made-up statements” attributed to Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan regarding transgender athlete Lia Thomas.
Social Media Posts Circulate Fake Statements
Remarks attributed to O’Callaghan but not shared from her online platforms has surfaced in updates on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on X, and claimed the elite athlete would not participate in the 2028 Olympics if a trans athlete is cleared to compete.
The statement falsely attributed to O’Callaghan featured a provocative statement that “being in the same lane with Lia Thomas is absolutely an insult and a embarrassment”.
Official Statement from the Federation
The national body backed the Olympic champion in a statement headlined with “fake quotes attributed to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.
“Currently, we see fabricated quotes linked to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan appearing on platform posts,” Swimming Australia said this past Sunday.
“At no stage has O’Callaghan spoken to media and made statements on transgender athletes.
“The platform has been notified of the false information, and O’Callaghan and the federation have requested the content to be taken down.”
Latest Developments and Context
Content that feature the statement linked to O’Callaghan were still visible on the platform on Monday, while a company representative said that “we are reviewing the appeal”.
The organization refused to give further comment.
American trans swimmer Lia Thomas is banned from competing in the women’s events under current international swimming rules and failed to overturn the policies in the period before the Olympic event.
The governing body put in place rules in recent years which prohibit anyone who has undergone “any stage of puberty as a male” from the women’s division.
Regarding Mollie O’Callaghan
O’Callaghan is a five-fold gold medal winner after beating fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the freestyle event championship race at the Paris event along with participating in four relay team triumphs.
The young champion earned a 200-meter freestyle global championship to her achievements in Tokyo in the summer.
O’Callaghan was competing in a World Cup competition in Indiana over the weekend and beat the field by almost two seconds to take out the freestyle race in a record time of one minute 50.77 seconds.
