Matt Fallon Established as Leading American 200 Breaststroker, Chasing Olympic Medal

Matt Fallon -- Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Matt Fallon Established as Leading American 200 Breaststroker, Chasing Olympic Medal

Whenever a swimmer takes down Leon Marchand in one of the Frenchman’s main events, that accomplishment deserves recognition. Marchand is clearly established as the world’s best swimmer, and he is coming off an NCAA Championships in which he won three individual titles and two relay titles, and he could have been in line for even more given his freestyle and breaststroke relay splits.

Marchand’s electric underwater dolphin kicks provide more off a boost short course than long course, but he is still world champion in both individual medley races plus the 200 butterfly. He surely would have threatened for the 200 breaststroke world title if not for a scheduling conflict with the 200 IM. However, the 200 breast is back on the table for the 2024 Olympic season, with Marchand having a real chance at swimming the 200 breast and 200 fly finals on the same day thanks to a recent event schedule adjustment for the Games.

But this weekend on the final day of the TYR Pro Series in San Antonio, an American swimmer got the better of Marchand in the 200 breast. Marchand usually excels at the end of tight races but not like Matt Fallon does. The Penn junior has built a reputation as a slow starter before turning on the jets on the third 50. When they raced this weekend, Marchand was almost a second clear of Fallon at the halfway point, but then Fallon split 32.73 on the third 50 and 33.03 coming home to overtake Marchand and win by just over two tenths, 2:08.18 to 2:08.40.

With the swim, Fallon became the fifth-fastest man in the world behind a trio of Japanese swimmers plus China’s Dong Zhihao, who won the world title in the event in February. The swim was less than a half-second behind Fallon’s best time of 2:07.71, and it came just two weeks after Fallon clocked 1:48.48 in the 200-yard breast to place second behind Marchand at the NCAA Championships, becoming the third-fastest man ever in the process.

Thus, it’s no exaggeration to proclaim Fallon as one of the world’s best in his signature event and clearly the top American in the race. Outside of Bobby Finke in the distance freestyle races and perhaps Ryan Murphy in the 200 backstroke, there is no bigger favorite to win an event at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June thanks to the track record that Fallon has established in a short period of time.

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Three years ago, he was the surprise top qualifier through both prelims and semifinals of the 200 breast at Olympic Trials, only to fall to eighth in the final. In 2022, he skipped the U.S. International Team Trials to focus on the conclusion of his academic year at Penn, but he still ended up with the country’s top time in the 200 breast. His senior-level international debut came in 2023, when Fallon won U.S. Nationals in the 200 breast and then secured World Championships bronze.

In Fukuoka, as China’s Qin Haiyang held off Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook and became the first swimmer ever under 2:06, Fallon was storming from eighth place at the halfway point into medal position. His mid-race gear shift is not subtle; Fallon shifts from a long, efficient strokes over the first half before going to a technique resembling a 50 breaststroker on the third length. There’s no reason for Fallon to change that strategy. As long as he can stay within a second of his competition over the first half of the race, he is in striking distance.

There’s another race habit, however, that Fallon should try to break out of prior to this summer: he tends to circle-swim his races, swimming down the right side of the lane going one way and then shifting to the opposite side coming home. When asked about his tendency at last year’s U.S. Nationals, Fallon avoided giving a straight answer.

“I can’t confirm or deny that,” Fallon said. “I like to draft off people, so sometimes I may not be in the middle of the lane all the time. It’s sort of always been a thing of mine because I’m always behind at the start of the race, so I always just like to draft off people. It could be placebo, but I feel like I get a draft, and it’s nice to have them right next to me. I will admit that swimming down the middle of the lane is best, but sometimes it’s hard to control that.”

In his Pro Series race against Marchand, Fallon continued to move side-to-side even with Marchand two lanes away, the swimmers on either side of him well off the pace. Swimmers can catch a draft when trailing their competitors one lane away (think Jason Lezak in the 400 free relay at the 2008 Olympics), but when leading those neighboring swimmers, circle-swimming only adds distance to an already-challenging race.

Fallon improved his lifetime best in the short course yards version of the 200 breast by more than a half-second this season, so he should be in store for another drop in long course. The American record of 2:07.17, established by Josh Prenot at the 2016 Trials, is certainly in danger, and Fallon will target the 2:06-territory that it will likely take to win Olympic medals in Paris against Qin, Stubblety-Cook, Dong and the two Japanese swimmers who qualified, Ippei Watanabe and Yu Hanaguruma.

Fallon’s medal last year was the first by an American in this event at a major competition since Prenot won Olympic silver in 2016. Now, he has the chance to return the United States to the Olympic podium — especially if he can swim his races down the middle.

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