Matt Fallon prepares for the 200-yard breaststroke finals at the NCAA Division I swimming and diving championships.
Credit: Jean ParkFEDERAL WAY, WASH. — One step closer to glory.
At the NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming Championships, senior breaststroke specialist Matt Fallon finished third in the morning preliminaries of the 200-yard breaststroke — advancing to the evening finals to compete for an NCAA championship.
The elusive NCAA title has been just out of reach for Fallon, a Paris Olympian and American record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke. The Warren, N.J., native finished third and second in the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2022 and 2024 NCAAs, respectively. Fallon was absent from the 2023 NCAAs due to injury.
At last year’s NCAAs, Fallon finished first after prelims with a time of 1:49.36 and ultimately placed second in the championship final to French superstar Léon Marchand of Arizona State, who has since turned professional.
Heading into the race, Fallon was seeded first in the 200-yard breaststroke with a nation-leading and Ivy League record-breaking time of 1:48.85 — just 0.37 seconds off his lifetime best set at last year’s NCAAs.
In lane four of heat five, Fallon kept it long and strong in the first half of the race — splitting a 53.66 for sixth at the 100.
Fallon is performing on par with his prelims at previous national championships. Fallon’s first 100 split was 53.40 in 2024 and 53.34 in 2022.
An exciting part of Fallon’s strategy in the 200-yard breaststroke is his impressive second half of the race. He regularly out-splits his competitors and rallies from as low as seventh to first at the final wall.
That strategy remained unchanged this year. Fallon split a 27.98 final 50 — the fastest of the field — to propel himself from sixth at 150 yards to first place at the finish.
Fallon touched the final wall in 1:49.85, 0.49 seconds off his prelims time and exactly one second off his nation-leading time at the 2025 Ivy League Championships.
Fallon is the third seed heading into tonight's championship final. Virginia Tech’s Carles Coll Marti notched a time of 1:49.23 — fastest of the morning — in the heat before Fallon. Indiana’s Jassen Yep recorded the second-fastest time of the prelims with a 1:49.39. Indiana continued to live up to its “Breaststroke U” nickname, sending fifth-year Caspar Corbeau to the championship final as the fourth seed following Fallon.
However, Fallon’s Paris Olympic teammate Josh Matheny of Indiana just missed the final in the 200-yard breaststroke by 0.6 seconds — finishing in ninth.
Fallon returns to the pool this evening to compete for his first NCAA title in the 200-yard breaststroke at 6 p.m. PST. The championships will be streamed live on ESPN+.
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