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Swimming Australia has taken steps to stop described as “fake news” and “false comments” attributed to Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan regarding transgender athlete Lia Thomas.

Online Content Spread Inaccurate Statements

A comment linked to O’Callaghan but not published from her online platforms has surfaced in updates on Facebook, as well as on the platform X, and implied the swimming star would boycott in the 2028 Olympics if a transgender swimmer is cleared to race.

The statement falsely attributed to O’Callaghan featured a provocative remark that “competing in the same pool with Lia Thomas is absolutely an affront and a embarrassment”.

Formal Response from the Federation

The national body supported the star swimmer in a announcement headlined with “fake quotes associated with Australian team member Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“There are currently false statements credited to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan appearing on online content,” Swimming Australia stated recently.

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

“Facebook’s parent company has been advised of the fabricated stories, and O’Callaghan and Swimming Australia have demanded the content to be deleted.”

Current Status and Background

Posts that include the comment linked to O’Callaghan were still online on Facebook on the following day, while a platform official said that “we are reviewing the request”.

The federation refused to give more details.

American trans swimmer Lia Thomas is barred from racing in the women’s division under existing international swimming guidelines and was unable to challenge the regulations in the lead up to the recent Games.

World Aquatics enacted regulations in recent years which forbid anyone who has gone through “any phase of puberty as a male” from the women’s division.

Regarding Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a five-fold gold medal winner after outpacing teammate Ariarne Titmus in the 200-meter freestyle final at the recent Olympics along with participating in four relay team triumphs.

The 21-year-old earned a freestyle world title to her honours in Japan in July this year.

O’Callaghan was competing in a international short course meet in Indiana over the weekend and beat the opponents by nearly two seconds to claim the women’s 200m freestyle in a Commonwealth record of a record time.