Australian Swimming Organization Moves to Suppress Fake Quotes Attributed to Star Athlete Mollie O’Callaghan
The national swimming federation has moved to suppress described as “false information” and “fabricated quotes” linked to swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan concerning transgender athlete Lia Thomas.
Social Media Content Circulate False Claims
Remarks attributed to O’Callaghan but not shared from her online platforms has been seen in content on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on the platform X, and implied the Olympic champion would boycott in the Los Angeles Olympics if a trans athlete is allowed to participate.
The quote wrongly credited to O’Callaghan included a controversial comment that “competing in the same pool with Lia Thomas is absolutely an affront and a shame”.
Official Response from Swimming Australia
The national body stood by the star swimmer in a statement headlined with “fake quotes attributed to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.
“There are currently made-up comments attributed to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan appearing on platform posts,” the federation said on Sunday.
“Never has O’Callaghan been interviewed and provided commentary on trans swimmers.
“The platform has been notified of the false information, and O’Callaghan and Swimming Australia have demanded the posts to be taken down.”
Current Status and Context
Updates that include the quote attributed to O’Callaghan were still visible on the platform on Monday, while a company representative said that “we are reviewing the demand”.
The federation declined to make further comment.
American transgender athlete Lia Thomas is barred from participating in the female category under present World Aquatics regulations and could not change the regulations in the period before the Paris Olympics.
World Aquatics enacted guidelines in recent years which ban anyone who has gone through “any stage of puberty as a male” from the women’s division.
About Mollie O’Callaghan
O’Callaghan is a five-time Olympic gold medallist after defeating compatriot Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle final at the recent Olympics along with participating in several team victories.
The 21-year-old added a 200-meter freestyle world title to her honours in Tokyo in recent months.
O’Callaghan was participating in a short course competition in Indiana over the weekend and beat the field by a significant margin to win the women’s 200m freestyle in a new best of a record time.
