Mollie Grace O'Callaghan OAM (born 2 April 2004) is an Australian swimmer and the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 m freestyle. She was the 2023 world champion in the women's 100m and 200m freestyle individual events, and part of the world champion 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m Australian women's relay teams together with 4 × 100 m mixed relay team. She previously held the world record in the women's individual 200m freestyle.

Mollie O'Callaghan
Personal information
Full nameMollie Grace O'Callaghan
Born (2004-04-02) 2 April 2004 (age 20)
South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia[1]
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubSt Peters Western Swim Club
CoachDean Boxall
Medal record
Women's swimming
Representing  Australia
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Olympic Games 5 1 2
World Championships (LC) 8 4 0
World Championships (SC) 3 3 1
Commonwealth Games 5 2 0
World Junior Championships 0 1 0
Total 21 11 3
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2020 Tokyo 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris 4×200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo 4×200 m freestyle
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris 4×100 m mixed medley
World Championships (LC)
Gold medal – first place 2022 Budapest 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Budapest 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 4×200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2023 Fukuoka 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Budapest 200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Budapest 4×200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Budapest 4×100 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2023 Fukuoka 4×100 m medley
World Championships (SC)
Gold medal – first place 2022 Melbourne 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Melbourne 4×200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Melbourne 4×50 m medley
Silver medal – second place 2022 Melbourne 100 m backstroke
Silver medal – second place 2022 Melbourne 4×50 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Melbourne 4×100 m medley
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Melbourne 50 m backstroke
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham 100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham 4×200 m freestyle
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m medley
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham 4×100 m mixed freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 200 m freestyle
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 50 m backstroke
World Junior Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Budapest 4×100 m freestyle

O'Callaghan also won two gold and one bronze medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics as a heats swimmer in relay events and gold medal in the 200 m freestyle and 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

2020 Tokyo Olympics

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O'Callaghan swam for the Australian team in the preliminaries of all three women's relays at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, receiving two gold medals and one bronze for her contribution. Swimming the 1st leg for Australia in the heats of the 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay, she posted a time of 53.08 and received a gold medal after the Australian team won the final.[2]

In the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay preliminaries, O'Callaghan swam a junior world record of 1:55.11 when swimming the lead off leg. Her time would have placed her fifth in the 200 metre freestyle final.[3] However, because the Australian coaches had previously decided to use four fresh swimmers in the final, O'Callaghan was controversially not selected for the final where Australia finished third.[4]

In a heat of the 4 × 100 metre medley relay, O'Callaghan again posted a competitive time; her anchor leg split was 52.35, only 0.24 seconds slower than the fastest freestyle split in the final by Cate Campbell.

2023 World Aquatics Championships

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At the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, O'Callaghan was a world champion in five events.

O'Callaghan won the women's 100m freestyle in 52.16, after qualifying in second place, and the women's 200m freestyle in a world record time of 1:52.85 after qualifying in third place. She was the first woman to win both of these events in a single world championship.[5]

O'Callaghan was also part of three champion relay teams, each of which set a world-record time: the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay;[6] the women's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay;[7] and the mixed 4 × 100 m freestyle relay.[8]

Results in major championships

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Meet 100 free 200 free 50 back 100 back 4×50 free 4×100 free 4×200 free 4×50 medley 4×100 medley 4×100 Mixed free 4×100 Mixed medley
WJC 2019 4th 4th 4th   5th 5th
OG 2021      
WC 2022     DNS        
CG 2022       DNS        
SCW 2022              
WC 2023     DNS        
OG 2024 4th          

Career best times

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Long course metres (50 m pool)

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[9]

Event Time Meet Location Date Notes
50 m freestyle 24.49 2024 Australian Swimming Trials Brisbane 15 June 2024
100 m freestyle 52.08 r 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka 23 July 2023
200 m freestyle 1:52.48 2024 Australian Swimming Trials Brisbane 26 July 2023
400 m freestyle 4:07.21 2023 NSW State Open Championships Sydney 11 March 2023
50 m backstroke 27.16 2024 Australian Championships Sydney 19 April 2024
100 m backstroke 57.88 2024 Australian Swimming Trials Brisbane 11 June 2024
200 m backstroke 2:08.48 2022 Australian Championships Adelaide 21 May 2022
50 m butterfly 27.72 Queensland Championships Brisbane 11 December 2023
100 m butterfly 58.98 Queensland Championships Brisbane 11 December 2023
200 m butterfly 2:13.74 Queensland Championships Brisbane 12 December 2023
Legend: WRWorld record; OCOceanian record; CRCommonwealth record; NRAustralian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

Short course metres (25 m pool)

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[9]

Event Time Meet Location Date Notes
50 m freestyle 24.40 Australian Virtual Short Course Championships Brisbane 26 November 2020
100 m freestyle 51.50 2022 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships Sydney 25 August 2022
200 m freestyle 1:55.24 McDonald's Queensland Championships Brisbane 26 September 2020
50 m backstroke 25.49 r 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Melbourne 17 December 2022 OC
100 m backstroke 55.62 2022 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Melbourne 14 December 2022
200 m backstroke 2:05.45 McDonald's Queensland Championships Brisbane 25 September 2020
50 m butterfly 27.87 State Teams Championships Canberra 4 October 2019
Legend: WRWorld record; OCOceanian record; CRCommonwealth record; NRAustralian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

World records

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Long course metres

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No. Event Time Meet Location Date Status Ref
1 4x100 m mixed freestyle relay[a] 3:19.38 2022 World Aquatics Championships Budapest, Hungary 24 June 2022 Former [10]
2 4x200 m freestyle relay[b] 7:39.29 2022 Commonwealth Games Birmingham, United Kingdom 31 July 2022 Former [11]
3 4×100 m freestyle relay[c] 3:27.96 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 Current [6]
4 200 m freestyle 1:52.85 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 26 July 2023 Former [12]
5 4x200 m freestyle relay[d] 7:37.50 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 27 July 2023 Current [7]
6 4x100 m mixed freestyle relay[e] 3:18.83 2023 World Aquatics Championships Fukuoka, Japan 29 July 2023 Current [8]
Legend: OCOceanian record; NRAustralian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

a split 52.03 (4th leg); with Jack Cartwright (1st leg), Kyle Chalmers (2nd leg), Madison Wilson (3rd leg)
b split 1:54.80 (3rd leg); with Madison Wilson (1st leg), Kiah Melverton (2nd leg), Ariarne Titmus (4th leg)
c split 52.08 (1st leg); with Shayna Jack (2nd leg), Meg Harris (3rd leg), Emma McKeon (4th leg)
d split 1:53.66 (1st leg); with Shayna Jack (2nd leg), Brianna Throssell (3rd leg), Ariarne Titmus (4th leg)
e split 51.71 (4th leg); with Jack Cartwright (1st leg), Kyle Chalmers (2nd leg), Shayna Jack (3rd leg)

Short course metres

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No. Event Time Meet Location Date Status Ref
1 4x100 m freestyle relay[a] 3:25.43 2022 World Championships (25 m) Melbourne, Australia 13 December 2022 Current [13]
2 4x200 m freestyle relay[b] 7:30.87 2022 World Championships (25 m) Melbourne, Australia 14 December 2022 Current [14]
3 4x50 m medley relay[c] 1:42.35 2022 World Championships (25 m) Melbourne, Australia 17 December 2022 Current [15]

a split 52.19 (1st leg); with Madison Wilson (2nd leg), Meg Harris (3rd leg), Emma McKeon (4th leg)
b split 1:52.83 (2nd leg), with Madison Wilson (1st leg), Leah Neale (3rd leg), Lani Pallister (4th leg)
c split 25.49 (backstroke leg); with Chelsea Hodges (breaststroke leg), Emma McKeon (butterfly leg), Madison Wilson (freestyle leg)

Olympic records

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Long course metres

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No. Event Time Meet Location Date Age Status Notes Ref
1 4x100 m freestyle relay[a] 3:28.92 2024 Summer Olympics Paris, France 27 July 2024 20 Current [16]
2 200 m freestyle 1:53.27 2024 Summer Olympics Paris, France 29 July 2024 20 Current [17]
3 4x200 m freestyle relay[b] 7:38.08 2024 Summer Olympics Paris, France 1 August 2024 20 Current [18]
Legend: WRWorld record; OCOceanian record; NRAustralian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

a split 52.24 (1st leg); with Shayna Jack (2nd leg), Emma McKeon (3rd leg), Meg Harris (4th leg)
b split 1:53.52 (1st leg) with Lani Pallister (2nd leg), Brianna Throssell (3rd leg), Ariarne Titmus (4th leg)

Honours

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Mollie O'Callaghan". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Tokyo 2020 Olympics day 1 prelims". SwimSwam. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Mollie O'Callaghan breaks 200 free WJR". SwimSwam. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  4. ^ "Aussie women fall after questionable relay decision". SwimSwam. 28 July 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Mollie O'Callaghan creates history by sweeping the 100m and 200m freestyle titles at the world swimming championships". ABC Sport. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  6. ^ a b Goh, ZK (24 July 2023). "World Aquatics Championships 2023: Australia win both 4x100m freestyle relays with the women setting a new world record". Olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  7. ^ a b Smirnova, Lena (29 July 2023). "World Aquatics Championships 2023: Australia women power to gold by smashing own 4x200m freestyle relay world record". Olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  8. ^ a b de Villiers, Ockert (30 July 2023). "World Aquatics Championships 2023: Australia break world record defending mixed 4x100m freestyle relay title". Olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  9. ^ a b "World Aquatics results – Mollie O'Callaghan". World Aquatics. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Mixed Freestyle Relay Final results" (PDF). omegatiming.com. 24 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Aussies blast 7:39.29 for new 4x200 WR". SwimSwam. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan breaks world record, beating Ariarne Titmus for women's 200m freestyle world title in Japan". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Women's 4x100m Freestyle – Final – Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Women's 4x200m Freestyle – Final – Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Women's 4x50m Medley – Final – Results" (PDF). Omega Timing. 17 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Australian women break own Olympic Record with 3:28.92 4x100 Free relay/". SwimSwam. 27 July 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Womens 200m Freestyle - Final results" (PDF). Olympics. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  18. ^ "2024 Paris Olympics Ariarne Titmus splits 1:52.95 on Australian anchor day 6 relay analysis". SwimSwam. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Australia Day Honours List" (PDF). The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. 26 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  20. ^ Hanson, Ian (28 August 2022)."Mollie O'Callaghan named Australia'Olympic Program swimmer of the year". Swimming World. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Mollie O'Callaghan repeats as Swimming Australia's Olympic Program swimmer of the year". SwimSwam. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  22. ^ "Swimming makes a big splash at AIS Performance Awards". Australian Sports Commission. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
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