What was claimed
Commonwealth Games swimmers have clashed over a cheating allegation.
Our verdict
False. The spat is fabricated and the quotes in the story are fake.
AAP FACTCHECK - Clickbait Facebook pages are exploiting the interest in the recent Commonwealth Games to spread falsehoods about Australian swimmers.
Several posts suggest England's Adam Ramsay-Peaty has accused breaststroke gold medallist Sam Williamson of cheating and is pursuing legal action against his Australian rival.
There is no credible reporting to suggest this is the case and quotes used in the posts are made up.
A page called "Aussie Spotlight" posted the false claims in an August 2 post that said the Englishman declared Williamson "bought his victory" in the pool.
Meta's account transparency information shows the page is run by users in Vietnam.
"Kick that cheat out! He’s nothing but a racer who bought his victory!" Ramsay-Peaty is quoted as saying in the post.
The post claims Ramsay-Peaty "demanded an immediate investigation and warned that if the tournament organisers failed to act, he would pursue every possible legal avenue to take action against the swimmer".
The post links to an ad-laden website that expands on the false claims.
Williamson won gold in the men's 100m breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 25 and followed up two days later with another gold in the men's 50m breaststroke event.
Ramsay-Peaty finished third in both races.
But a Google search returns no credible reports of Ramsay-Peaty accusing Williamson of cheating, nor of the quote attributed to him in the post.
Ramsay-Peaty did make comments during the Paris Olympics in 2024 about cheating in sport, which The Guardian reported as being aimed at two Chinese swimmers.
A similar post by a page called "AU Swim Aquatics" - which AAP FactCheck has debunked previously - claims Williamson hit back at Ramsay-Peaty's criticisms.
Meta's account transparency information shows the page is run by users in Vietnam.
"I didn't cheat. If the results prove otherwise, I'll take legal action against him," Williamson is quoted as saying in that post.
It also links to an ad-laden website that expands on the false claims.
The quote attributed to Williamson is fabricated and a Google search does not return any credible evidence he said the words attributed to him.
The page has also falsely suggested on several occasions that retired Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser has died.
“SAD NEWS: We send our deepest condolences to Australian swimming legend Dawn Fraser (89) at this time,” a June 5 post reads.
Neither the post nor an external blog linked in the comments make any specific claims about the reason for those purported condolences.
However, several users in the comments appear to believe that Fraser died.
“Really how sad what a icon condolence to family Rip Dawn,” an Australian Facebook user commented on one of the fake posts.
But there are no credible reports Fraser has died.
She is active on social media and, at the time of writing, regularly posts to her Facebook page, including after her supposed death.
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