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Swimming Australia has taken steps to shut down described as “false information” and “false comments” attributed to swimmer Mollie O’Callaghan regarding transgender athlete Lia Thomas.

Online Content Spread Inaccurate Claims

A statement credited to O’Callaghan but not published from her social media accounts has surfaced in content on Meta platform Facebook, as well as on Twitter, and suggested the swimming star would boycott in the 2028 Olympics if a transgender swimmer is allowed to race.

The quote falsely attributed to O’Callaghan included a inflammatory statement that “being in the same lane with Lia Thomas is absolutely an insult and a embarrassment”.

Official Response from the Federation

Swimming Australia supported the Olympic champion in a release titled with “false statements associated with Australian team member Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“There are currently made-up comments credited to team member Mollie O’Callaghan circulating on platform posts,” the federation stated this past Sunday.

“Not at any point has O’Callaghan spoken to media and provided commentary on this issue.

“The platform has been notified of the fabricated stories, and O’Callaghan and the federation have demanded the posts to be deleted.”

Current Status and Context

Updates that include the comment credited to O’Callaghan were still circulating on the platform on Monday, while a platform official stated that “we are reviewing the demand”.

The organization did not offer additional statements.

United States trans swimmer Lia Thomas is barred from racing in the female category under present international swimming guidelines and was unable to challenge the policies in the run-up to the Olympic event.

The governing body introduced regulations in 2022 which forbid anyone who has experienced “any part of male development” from the female category.

About Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a five-fold gold medal winner after defeating fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus in the freestyle event final at the recent Olympics along with contributing to several team victories.

O’Callaghan added a 200m freestyle world title to her honours in Japan in recent months.

O’Callaghan was participating in a international competition in Indiana over the weekend and defeated the field by a significant margin to win the 200-meter event in a Commonwealth record of 1:50.77.