Swimming Body Acts to Halt Fake Comments Linked to Champion Swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan
The national swimming federation has acted to stop described as “fake news” and “fabricated quotes” linked to swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan concerning transgender athlete Lia Thomas.
Social Media Content Circulate Inaccurate Claims
Remarks credited to O’Callaghan but not shared from her online platforms has appeared in content on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on the platform X, and claimed the swimming star would boycott in the 2028 Olympics if a trans athlete is permitted to race.
The statement falsely attributed to O’Callaghan contained a controversial statement that “sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is truly an disgrace and a embarrassment”.
Formal Response from Swimming Australia
The national body supported the gold medalist in a statement labeled with “false statements linked to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.
“There are currently made-up comments credited to team member Mollie O’Callaghan circulating on social media posts,” the federation announced this past Sunday.
“Never has O’Callaghan given an interview and made statements on trans swimmers.
“Facebook’s parent company has been informed of the fake news, and O’Callaghan and the federation have demanded the posts to be taken down.”
Current Status and Context
Updates that feature the statement linked to O’Callaghan were still online on Facebook on the following day, while a company representative stated that “we are reviewing the appeal”.
Swimming Australia declined to make additional statements.
American trans swimmer Lia Thomas is banned from participating in the women’s division under present World Aquatics guidelines and could not change the policies in the period before the recent Games.
World Aquatics put in place guidelines in 2022 which forbid anyone who has experienced “any phase of male development” from the female category.
About Mollie O’Callaghan
O’Callaghan is a multiple Olympic gold medallist after defeating fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 200-meter freestyle championship race at the Paris event along with contributing to four relay team triumphs.
The young champion secured a 200m freestyle world championship crown to her accolades in Japan in recent months.
O’Callaghan was participating in a short course competition in Indiana over the weekend and beat the competitors by nearly two seconds to win the women’s 200m freestyle in a new best of one minute 50.77 seconds.
