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Swimming Australia has acted to suppress described as “false information” and “fabricated quotes” attributed to Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan regarding trans swimmer Lia Thomas.

Social Media Posts Spread Inaccurate Claims

A comment attributed to O’Callaghan but not shared from her online platforms has appeared in updates on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on Twitter, and claimed the swimming star would boycott in the Los Angeles Olympics if a trans athlete is allowed to compete.

The quote wrongly credited to O’Callaghan contained a provocative statement that “competing in the same pool with Lia Thomas is truly an disgrace and a shame”.

Official Statement from the Federation

The organization supported the star swimmer in a release titled with “false statements attributed to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“There are currently made-up comments attributed to team member Mollie O’Callaghan circulating on social media posts,” the organization stated this past Sunday.

“Never has O’Callaghan given an interview and made statements on transgender athletes.

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

Current Status and Context

Content that contain the quote credited to O’Callaghan were still online on the platform on the following day, while a platform official commented that “we are reviewing the request”.

The federation did not offer further comment.

United States transgender athlete Lia Thomas is banned from competing in the female category under present international swimming rules and was unable to challenge the regulations in the lead up to the Olympic event.

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

Regarding Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a five-fold Olympic gold medallist after defeating compatriot Ariarne Titmus in the freestyle event championship race at the 2024 Paris Games along with participating in several team victories.

The 21-year-old added a 200-meter freestyle world title to her achievements in Japan in the summer.

O’Callaghan was racing in a short course event in Indiana last weekend and defeated the competitors by nearly two seconds to win the freestyle race in a new best of one minute 50.77 seconds.