Olympic gold medalist Mollie O’Callaghan of Australia will miss the Pan Pacific Championships, the year’s biggest international swim meet, due to injury.
O’Callaghan has been managing a back injury, according to Swimming Australia.
This past week, O’Callaghan won four golds and one silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, including gold in the 200m freestyle (which she won at the Paris Olympics and the 2025 World Championships).
“I always knew my program was going to be different, and I would reassess at the end of the Games, and my injury is exactly where I thought it would be,” O’Callaghan said in a press release. “And the time is right for me to go home. Good luck to all my teammates (at Pan Pacs) in California.”
Australian coach Rohan Taylor added, “She made the decision to return home rather than add another campaign with significant travel. As I said, our lens is on LA, and less is more right now for Mollie.”
Australia’s two biggest female stars have both withdrawn from Pan Pacs, which are Aug. 12-15 in Irvine.
Three weeks ago, five-time Olympic gold medalist Kaylee McKeown announced her withdrawal from Pan Pacs due to mononucleosis.
The Australian roster for Pan Pacs is led by Lani Pallister, who took 800m free silver behind Katie Ledecky at the 2025 Worlds, and Zac Stubblety-Cook, who took silver and gold in the 200m breaststroke at the last two Olympics.
