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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 concerning trans swimmer Lia Thomas.

Online Content Spread Inaccurate Statements

A comment linked to O’Callaghan but not posted from her social media accounts has surfaced in updates on Facebook, as well as on X, and implied the elite athlete would refuse to compete in the 2028 LA Games if a transgender athlete is allowed to compete.

These words incorrectly linked to O’Callaghan included a controversial remark that “competing in the same pool with Lia Thomas is really an insult and a embarrassment”.

Formal Response from Swimming Australia

The national body stood by the gold medalist in a announcement titled with “false statements attributed to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan”.

“There are currently false statements attributed to team member Mollie O’Callaghan appearing on platform posts,” Swimming Australia said recently.

“Never has O’Callaghan given an interview and provided commentary on trans swimmers.

“Facebook’s parent company has been informed of the false information, and O’Callaghan and Swimming Australia have demanded the content to be taken down.”

Current Status and Background

Posts that include the statement linked to O’Callaghan were still online on the platform on Monday, while a Meta spokesperson commented that “we are investigating the demand”.

Swimming Australia declined to make more details.

United States trans swimmer Lia Thomas is banned from competing in the women’s events under present World Aquatics regulations and was unable to challenge the policies in the lead up to the Paris Olympics.

World Aquatics introduced rules in recent years which ban anyone who has experienced “any stage of male puberty” from the women’s competition.

About Mollie O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan is a multiple champion after beating teammate Ariarne Titmus in the 200m freestyle championship race at the recent Olympics along with contributing to four winning relays.

The 21-year-old earned a 200m freestyle global championship to her honours in Tokyo in July this year.

O’Callaghan was competing in a short course short course meet in the United States over the weekend and outpaced the opponents by a significant margin to win the women’s 200m freestyle in a record time of one minute 50.77 seconds.