Junior breastroker Matt Fallon won the 200-meter breaststroke at the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in San Antonio, Texas.
Credit: Anna VazhaeparambilWith less than two months to go until the U.S. Olympic Trials, Penn men's swimming and diving junior breaststroker Matt Fallon's chances of securing a ticket to Paris this summer are looking more and more promising.
On April 13, Fallon won the 200-meter breaststroke at the TYR Pro Swim Series meet in San Antonio in meet record-breaking fashion.
Fallon's performance comes off a successful collegiate championship season where he took home a championship title at Ivies and All-American honors for his runner-up finish at NCAA Division I championships in the 200-yard breaststroke.
However, everything has been leading up to these last three months before June’s Trials — where Fallon is a front-runner for the team in the 200-meter breast after finishing third at World Championships in that event.
In San Antonio, the Warren, N.J., native competed in the 100-meter and 200-meter breast — his focus being on the latter event where he is more competitive.
Also competing in the 200-meter breast was Leon Marchand — the French phenom and ten-time NCAA champion from Arizona State, who Fallon was runner-up to in the yards version of this event at NCAAs. The finals of the event served as a rematch between Fallon and Marchand as the two were the favorites to win.
However, in the evening, more eyes were on Marchand after dominant performance at NCAAs and the announcement of how he will be forgoing his final year of college eligibility to go professional.
During the first 100 meters, Marchand led the field, splitting 1:01.49. However, even though he is known for his strong second half of the race, Fallon was close behind touching 1:02.42 for second at the 100-meter mark. As expected, in the third 50, Fallon started to close the gap between him and the Frenchman, reducing the difference to 0.39 seconds at the 150-meter mark.
The two kept it tight until the end with Fallon out touching the five-time World Champion with a time of 2:08.18. The time is a new Pro Swim Series record and about a half second off his best time from Worlds last summer — a clear step in the right direction when looking ahead to the trials in June. Marchland touched the wall in a time of 2:08:40.
“I wasn't expecting to go that fast at this meet, but I’ve definitely put in the work to do so," Fallon said. "So, I was really happy. You can't have a perfect race every time you step in the water, so it's really nice to have one that comes together like this.”
The time makes Fallon the fastest American and fifth fastest swimmer at the time in the world in 2024 in the 200-meter breast. Fallon’s win over Marchand is especially impressive, as it's the Frenchman’s first major loss in a long course race since 2022.
Since the beginning of the school year, Fallon has been focusing on long course and developing more front-half speed while maintaining his strong back half, which has clearly translated to his recent long course races at the Pro Series and U.S. Open back in December 2023.
“I'm feeling confident taking the race out faster. I didn't have insane speed in the last 100 [meters],” Fallon said. “But, it's definitely more than enough to do what I wanted to do. I definitely am pretty confident that I can take it out faster, hold [that speed until the end].”
This isn’t the last the Penn and greater swimming community will hear from Fallon until Trials. Fallon plans to compete at an upcoming meet at Rutgers with some Penn swimming and diving teammates who hope to earn Olympic Trial cuts. After, it will be full speed ahead towards U.S. Olympic Trials held in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis from June 15 to 23.
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