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Swimming Australia has acted to stop labeled as “false information” and “made-up statements” linked to Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan about trans swimmer Lia Thomas.

Online Content Circulate False Claims

A statement linked to O’Callaghan but not posted from her social media accounts has appeared in updates on the social media site Facebook, as well as on X, and suggested the Olympic champion would refuse to compete in the Los Angeles Olympics if a trans athlete is permitted to participate.

The statement wrongly credited to O’Callaghan included a provocative comment that “sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is truly an disgrace and a disgrace”.

Formal Statement from the Federation

The national body supported the gold medalist in a statement titled with “false statements associated with Australian team member Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“At present, there are made-up comments attributed to team member Mollie O’Callaghan seen on online content,” Swimming Australia stated on Sunday.

“Never has O’Callaghan been interviewed and made statements on trans swimmers.

“Meta has been advised of the fabricated stories, and O’Callaghan and the federation have requested the posts to be deleted.”

Current Status and Context

Updates that contain the comment linked to O’Callaghan were still circulating on Facebook on the following day, while a platform official commented that “we are investigating the request”.

Swimming Australia refused to give further comment.

American trans swimmer Lia Thomas is prohibited from participating in the women’s events under existing World Aquatics regulations and could not change the policies in the period before the Olympic event.

World Aquatics introduced guidelines in recent years which prohibit anyone who has gone through “any phase of male development” from the female category.

About Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a five-time champion after beating teammate Ariarne Titmus in the freestyle event championship race at the 2024 Paris Games along with being part of several team victories.

The 21-year-old added a 200-meter freestyle global championship to her accolades in Tokyo in the summer.

O’Callaghan was competing in a short course short course meet in Indiana over the weekend and defeated the opponents by a significant margin to claim the women’s 200m freestyle in a record time of 1:50.77.