Mollie O’Callaghan has been the victim of a fake news storm. She just broke a world record

3 months ago 31

Mollie O’Callaghan has stunned the swimming world by breaking the women’s short-course 200-metre freestyle world record, just days after Swimming Australia was forced to defend the Olympic champion from false news stories being spread about her on social media.

A former long-course 200m world record holder – the now retired Ariarne Titmus lowered that mark last year – O’Callaghan continued her stellar season with a blistering victory at a World Cup meet in a 25-metre pool in Westmont, Illinois, on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).

The 21-year-old, the reigning Olympic and world champion in the long-course (50m pool) version of the event, became the first woman to break the one-minute 50-second barrier in a 25-metre pool, clocking 1:49.77. Her time sliced 0.54 seconds off Siobhan Haughey’s previous world mark from 2021.

O’Callaghan also pocketed a US$10,000 bonus ($15,500 AUD) for breaking the world record.

O’Callaghan finished 2.29 seconds ahead of her training partner and Australian teammate Lani Pallister, who is better suited to the longer distance events.

Her underwater skills and ability to get off the wall quickly make her ideally suited to short-course events.

Mollie O’Callaghan reacts to breaking the women’s 200m freestyle world record (shortcourse).

“I was so nervous all day,” O’Callaghan told Swimming World after the race. “I knew I was capable of doing that swim.

“It’s nice to do short course, it’s such a big change from long course. It’s a different beast at the end of the day.

“I have a great support team behind me to get me to this moment.”

O’Callaghan had shown ominous form last week, posting a personal best of 1:50.77.

The record caps a turbulent fortnight for O’Callaghan, who has been the target of a vile fake news campaign on Facebook.

A page with about 13,000 followers has been posting – and continues to do so – fabricated news stories about O’Callaghan, many relating to transgender athlete Lia Thomas.

One post falsely claimed O’Callaghan would boycott the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics if a transgender swimmer was allowed to compete.

Other false posts alleged O’Callaghan had signed a “$13.5 million Netflix deal for a seven-episode documentary”, been “harassed during a promotional event with Emirates”, and been accused by Dutch rival Marrit Steenbergen of using “an illegal performance-enhancing device”. All claims are baseless.

Swimming Australia issued a statement last week condemning the posts.

“There are currently fabricated quotes attributed to Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan appearing on social media posts,” the statement said.

“At no stage has O’Callaghan been interviewed and provided commentary on transgender athletes. Meta has been advised of the fake news, and O’Callaghan and Swimming Australia have requested the posts to be taken down.”

Meanwhile, Kaylee McKeown has picked up a rare second place behind her long-time American rival Regan Smith in the women’s 100m backstroke final.

Smith matched her own short-course world record of 54.02, edging McKeown by two one-hundredths of a second.

The result is unlikely to bother McKeown, who beat Smith in the 100m and 200m backstroke finals at this year’s long-course world championships in Singapore.

The Australian also claimed both titles at the Olympics in Tokyo (2021) and Paris (2024). Smith has not beaten McKeown in a major long-course backstroke final since 2019.