Matt Fallon a 2024 Olympian in the 200 breast and American Record holder. He was the 2023 National Champion and a 2022 NCAA All-American in the 200 breast. He has been a member of the US National Team since 2021.
High School
Matt Fallon showed up in SwimSwam at the age of 14. He made headlines when he negative-split his 400 IM at YMCA Nationals. He also broke the 400 free SCM national high school record during his senior year. At the 2021 Olympic Trials, Fallon had a huge breakout swim, swimming a 2:08.91 to take the top seed coming out of semi-finals.
Fallon was ranked #8 in the boys Class of 2021, then jumped to #5 in the re-rank of that class. On July 2, 2020, Fallon committed to swim for Penn in college.
College (Penn)
2021-22
Fallon continued his meteoric rise as a breaststroke, when at the mid-season Zippy Invite he went 1:49.71 in the 200 breast, becoming the second-fastest freshman in history. SwimSwam also took a trip to Penn to film a practice, which Fallon was a part of.
At his first Ivy League Championships, Fallon won the 200 breast in an Ivy record of 1:51.44, took 2nd in the 100 breast, and 8th in the 200 IM. At NCAAs the following month, Fallon tied for 10th in the 100 breast and placed 3rd in the 200 breast.
2022-23
At his 2nd Ivy League Champs, Fallon placed 10th in the 500 free, 3rd in the 100 breast, and 3rd in the 200 breast. He skipped the NCAA Championships due to injury.
2023-24
Fallon stayed out of competition until November. He opened things up against Brown, winning the 100 bread (53.98), 200 breast (1:56.09), and 200 IM (1:49.74). He improved all of those marks against Princeton and Cornell, clocking a 52.27 100 breast, 1:55.84 200 breast, and 1:48.21 200 IM.
Fallon’s next big swims came at Ivy League Championships. In a later interview, Fallon said that as part of his season plan, he tapered more for the Ivy League Championships than he did for NCAAs. That showed as Fallon clocked a new 500 free best time on night 2 with a 4:19.51 for 4th. He followed that tup with a 52.28 100 breast the next night for runner-up by .05 seconds behind Brown’s Jack Kelly. He later split a 52.00 in a 100 breast relay split. In his signature event, the 200 breast, Fallon was dominant. Kelly actually led him at the 100 but Fallon used his superior back half splits of 27.90/28.09 to beat Kelly by nearly 2 seconds with a 1:49.75.
At NCAAs, Fallon clocked a 100 breast season best of 51.92 for 19th. In the 200 breast, Fallon swam another season best in prelims. His 1:49.36 led the field out of qualifying but Leon Marchand lurked in 3rd. It was all Marchand in the final as he clocked a new NCAA record of 1:46.35. Behind him, Fallon put on a thrilling race. He sat back in 6th at the 50 but moved to 3rd at the 100. He held steady behind Liam Bell on the 3rd 50 with a 27.45 before surging past a fading Bell to take runner-up in a new PB of 1:48.48.
National/International Competition
2021 Olympic Trials
Matt Fallon made a big statement at the 2021 Olympic Trials, taking the top seed out of prelims (2:10.13) and semi-finals (2:08.91) with personal bests in both. He ended up placing 8th in the final.
2023 National Championships
At the World Champ trials in Indianapolis, Fallon made his first US international team, winning the 200 breast using his patented second 100 to touch first in 2:07.71.
2023 World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, Japan)
With just the 200 breast, Fallon had all his focus on one event for the whole meet. In prelims, he was 2:09.32 for 3rd. In semis, Fallon remained 3rd with a 2:07.90, just .19 off his best time from trials. Fallon’s finals performance was the quintessential Fallon swim. He was 8th at the 50, 8th at the 100, but ramped things up with an absurd 31.86 3rd 50 to pass 4 guys by the 150. Down the stretch, only Anton McKee stood between Fallon and a medal and McKee proved to be no problem (McKee split 35.19 on the last 50 to Fallon’s 33.21) and Fallon took the bronze in 2:07.74.
2023 US Open Championships (Greensboro, North Carolina)
A bit under the radar in the slew of 59s, Fallon clocked a 100 breast PB of 59.92, his first time under 1:00. Fallon faced a good challenge in the 200 breast from veteran Cody Miller. The two were neck and neck through much of the race but Fallon got the better of Miller on the final 50, touching in 2:09.49 for the win.
2024 Pro Swim Series–San Antonio
Coming off NCAAs, Fallon rematched against Marchand in the 200 breast, this time in the long pool. Marchand built up a second lead over the first 100 only for Fallon to bring them even over the final 50. Down the stretch, Fallon found even more and surged to the wall in 2:08.18 besting Marchand (2:08.40). That reset the PSS record. Marchand’s defeat marked his first in a non-exhibition LCM race since finishing 2nd in the 200 butterfly behind world record holder Kristof Milak at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
2024 US Olympic Team Trials (Indianapolis, Indiana)
In his signature 200 breast, Fallon eased through prelims in 3rd with a 2:09.81. In semis, Fallon was quick, posting a 2:07.39. That was a big PB and moved him from #6 to #2 in American history. With all eyes on him, Fallon came through in the final. He took it out well by Fallon standards, splitting 29.19/32.31. His 3rd 50 was on brand, moving him into first with a 32.50. Down the stretch, it was clear the American Record was within his grasp. Coming home in a speedy 32.54, Fallon destroyed Josh Prenot’s 8-year-old American record of 2:07.17 with a 2:06.54. That made Fallon #5 in world history and also broke the meet and US Open records.
