Senior men's swimmer Matt Fallon is poised to bring home an Olympic medal for the Red and Blue.
Credit: Anna VazhaeparambilIt may be Olympian Matthew Fallon now, but it’s about to be Olympic medalist Matthew Fallon.
Rising Wharton senior Matt Fallon is set to take on the biggest moment of his career — representing Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 200-meter breaststroke.
The Warren, N.J. native is no stranger to the international stage. Last summer, he took home a bronze medal for Team USA at the World Championships in the 200 breaststroke. This past year — inclusive of the collegiate season — has been a precursor for the United States Olympic Trials and the Olympics, and Fallon has shined. He took silver at the NCAA Championships and broke U.S. Open and TYR Pro Swim Series records in his signature event. At Trials, Fallon lived up to the hype, touching first in the 200 breaststroke for an Olympic berth in American record-breaking fashion. His Trials time of 2:06.54 also established him as the fastest time in the world in 2024.
Trials traditionally has been known to be harder than the actual Olympics themselves. After a standout performance, Fallon has turned his full attention to Paris. Recently, Fallon and the rest of the U.S. Olympic Swim Team were putting in the work in Rijeka, Croatia, which was their second pre-Paris training camp.
“I’ve been training a lot, so I’m pretty tired, but definitely the vibes are still up. It’s nice to get to meet [other U.S. Olympic swimming teammates] but also be put in a lot of good training,” Fallon told The Daily Pennsylvanian of his recent training with Team USA. “I’ve been swimming pretty fast in the water. I’m excited about that.”
While Fallon enters the games as the fastest American in history in his event, the field for the 200 breaststroke is very competitive, with many different international stars.
Qin Haiyang
One is China’s Qin Haiyang. At last year’s World Championships, the 25-year-old broke the world record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:05.48 — the same race that Fallon took bronze in. Haiyang also became the first swimmer in history to sweep all three breaststroke events (50, 100, 200) in a single World Championships. Afterwards, at the 2023 Swimming World Cup, Qin again swept all three breaststroke events in all of the World Cup legs.
However, it was just uncovered this past spring that Qin was part of the Chinese doping scandal in the lead-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He is set to compete in Paris, but he and his Team China teammates will be subject to testing more frequently as the games approach.
Zac Stubblety-Cook
Another top competitor will be Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook. The fellow 25-year-old held the 200 breast world record before Haiyang. In the 2023 World Championships race, he finished in second, just ahead of Fallon, with a time of 2:06.40. Stubblety-Cook currently still holds the Olympic record set in 2021 in Tokyo. In Paris, he’s looking to reclaim his world record. However, it may prove difficult, with a tight field as well as a target on his back with the presence of Fallon and American teammate Josh Matheny (placed second at Trials to also represent the United States in the 200 breast), fueled by a recent reignition of the U.S.-Australia swimming rivalry.
Léon Marchand
Léon Marchand — a familiar name to many swim fans and those who follow Fallon’s career closely — is also set to compete. Although this Olympic Games will be his first time competing in the 200 breaststroke on an international stage, the 22-year-old rising star has built up a reputation and track record that makes him hard to count out. The Frenchman holds the world record in the 400-meter individual medley and is coached by the legendary Bob Bowman — the former coach of Michael Phelps.
In addition, Marchand is a three-time NCAA champion in the 200-yard breaststroke — besting Fallon in the 2022 and 2024 editions. However, Marchand will be taking on a difficult double (two events in a single session) of the 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly during the Olympics, so it will be interesting to predict how fast Marchand will go in both events. At the French Olympic Trials last month, Marchand completed the double — swimming in a time of 2:08.95 in the 200 breaststroke. Notably, back in April, Marchand competed in only the 200 breast on day four of the TYR Pro Swim Series in San Antonio, and Fallon out-touched the Frenchman for first — giving Marchand his first major loss in a long course meet since 2022.
Some other top competitors include Japanese former world record-holder Ippei Watanabe, Yu Hanaguruma of Japan, as well as Zhihao Dong of China.
After Haiyang, the next three fastest competitors are only separated by 0.19 seconds based on lifetime best times. This trio includes Stubblety-Cook, Fallon, and Marchand, in that respective order. Olympic silver medalist and former American record-holder Josh Prenot opened a conversation on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, stating, “I’m thinking it might take 2:06.low if everyone is on their game.”
Although the stakes are higher and the pressure is on heading into the games, Fallon is sticking to his mental strategy of not taking things too seriously leading up to Paris — a strategy that has proved successful in his preparation for Trials.
“[The Olympics is just another meet I’ve already raced at like Trials or Worlds] is the way I've been thinking about it,” Fallon said.
The Paris Olympics are set to begin on July 26, with swimming events beginning on July 27. The heats and semifinals of the 200 breast will be on July 30, with the Olympic final on July 31. See the official schedule linked here for details.
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