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The national swimming federation has moved to suppress what it calls “fabricated stories” and “fabricated quotes” associated with Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan concerning trans swimmer Lia Thomas.

Online Posts Spread Fake Claims

A comment linked to O’Callaghan but not posted from her social media accounts has been seen in content on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on the platform X, and suggested the Olympic champion would boycott in the 2028 Olympics if a transgender swimmer is allowed to compete.

The quote incorrectly linked to O’Callaghan featured a controversial remark that “sharing a pool with Lia Thomas is truly an disgrace and a shame”.

Formal Statement from Swimming Australia

The national body supported the star swimmer in a release titled with “fake quotes associated with Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“At present, there are fabricated quotes linked to team member Mollie O’Callaghan seen on online content,” the federation stated this past Sunday.

“Not at any point has O’Callaghan spoken to media and made statements on trans swimmers.

“The platform has been notified of the false information, and O’Callaghan and Swimming Australia have asked the posts to be deleted.”

Latest Developments and Background

Content that contain the statement linked to O’Callaghan were still circulating on the platform on Monday, while a company representative stated that “we are investigating the demand”.

Swimming Australia refused to give further comment.

American transgender athlete Lia Thomas is banned from racing in the women’s division under existing international swimming guidelines and failed to overturn the rules in the run-up to the recent Games.

The governing body introduced regulations in recent years which ban anyone who has undergone “any part of puberty as a male” from the female category.

Regarding Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a multiple champion after outpacing fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle final at the 2024 Paris Games along with being part of four winning relays.

The 21-year-old secured a 200-meter freestyle world championship crown to her accolades in Japan in the summer.

O’Callaghan was participating in a short course short course meet in Indiana recently and beat the competitors by a significant margin to take out the 200-meter event in a Commonwealth record of a record time.