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Biography
Mollie Grace O'Callaghan, OAM (born 2 April 2004) is an Australian swimmer. 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. As of July 2023 she is the world record holder in the women's individual 200m freestyle.
Previously, O'Callaghan won two gold and one bronze medallist in the 2020 Summer Olympics as a heats swimmer in relay events.
2020 Tokyo Olympics
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.
In the 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay preliminaries, O'Callaghan swam ajunior world record of 1:55.11 when swimming the lead off leg. Her time would have placed her fifth in the200 metre freestyle final. 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.
In a heat of the 4 × 100 metre medley relay, O'Callaghan again posteda 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
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.
O'Callaghan was also part of three champion relay teams, each of which set a world-record time: the women's 4×100m freestyle relay; the women's 4×200m freestyle relay; and the mixed 4×100m freestyle relay.
Results in major championships
| 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 | | | | |
Career best times
Long course metres (50 m pool)
- As of 28 July 2023
| Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 m freestyle | 24.52 | 2022 Australian Championships | Adelaide | 22 May 2022 | ||
| 100 m freestyle | 52.08 | r | 2023 World Aquatics Championships | Fukuoka | 23 July 2023 | |
| 200 m freestyle | 1:52.85 | 2023 World Aquatics Championships | Fukuoka | 26 July 2023 | WR | |
| 400 m freestyle | 4:07.21 | 2023 NSW State Open Championships | Sydney | 11 March 2023 | ||
| 50 m backstroke | 27.38 | 2023 NSW State Open Championships | Sydney | 12 March 2023 | ||
| 100 mbackstroke | 58.42 | 2023 Australian Championships | Gold Coast | 18 April 2023 | ||
| 2023 Australian World Championships Trials | Melbourne | 14 June 2023 | ||||
| 200 m backstroke | 2:08.48 | 2022 Australian Championships | Adelaide | 21 May 2022 | ||
| 50 m butterfly | 27.86 | Queensland Championships | Brisbane | 17 December 2020 |
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)
- As of 17 December 2022
| 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 mbackstroke | 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 |
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
Long course metres
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Status | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4x100 m mixed freestyle relay | 3:19.38 | 2022 World Aquatics Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 24 June 2022 | Former | |
| 2 | 4x200 m freestyle relay | 7:39.29 | 2022 Commonwealth Games | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 31 July 2022 | Former | |
| 3 | 4×100 m freestyle relay | 3:27.96 | 2023 World Aquatics Championships | Fukuoka, Japan | 23 July 2023 | Current | |
| 4 | 200 m freestyle | 1:52.85 | 2023 World Aquatics Championships | Fukuoka, Japan | 26 July 2023 | Current | |
| 5 | 4x200 m freestyle relay | 7:37.50 | 2023 World Aquatics Championships | Fukuoka, Japan | 27 July 2023 | Current | |
| 6 | 4x100 m mixed freestyle relay | 3:18.83 | 2023 World Aquatics Championships | Fukuoka, Japan | 29 July 2023 | Current |
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
split 52.03 (4th leg); with Jack Cartwright (1st leg), Kyle Chalmers (2nd leg), Madison Wilson (3rd leg)
split 1:54.80 (3rd leg); with Madison Wilson (1st leg), Kiah Melverton (2nd leg), Ariarne Titmus (4th leg)
split 52.08 (1st leg); with Shayna Jack (2nd leg), Meg Harris (3rd leg), Emma McKeon (4th leg)
split 1:53.66 (1st leg); with Shayna Jack (2nd leg), Brianna Throssell (3rd leg), Ariarne Titmus (4th leg)
split 51.71 (4th leg); with Jack Cartwright (1st leg), Kyle Chalmers (2nd leg), Shayna Jack (3rd leg)
Short course metres
| No. | Event | Time | Meet | Location | Date | Status | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4x100 m freestyle relay | 3:25.43 | 2022 World Championships (25 m) | Melbourne, Australia | 13 December 2022 | Current | |
| 2 | 4x200 m freestyle relay | 7:30.87 | 2022 World Championships (25 m) | Melbourne, Australia | 14 December 2022 | Current | |
| 3 | 4x50 m medley relay | 1:42.35 | 2022 World Championships (25 m) | Melbourne, Australia | 17 December 2022 | Current |
split 52.19 (1st leg); with Madison Wilson (2nd leg), Meg Harris (3rd leg), Emma McKeon (4th leg)
split 1:52.83 (2nd leg), with Madison Wilson (1st leg), Leah Neale (3rd leg), Lani Pallister (4th leg)
split 25.49 (backstroke leg); with Chelsea Hodges (breaststroke leg), Emma McKeon (butterfly leg), Madison Wilson (freestyle leg)
Honours
- In the 2022 Australia Day Honours, O'Callaghan was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia.
- Swimming Australia, Olympic Program Swimmer of the Year: 2022