Senior breaststroker Matt Fallon poses with a blackboard on April 14.
Credit: Weining DingIt’s the end of an era for senior breaststroke specialist Matt Fallon.
On March 29, the flashing lights on the collegiate stage shined on Fallon for the last time as he took to the blocks for his final collegiate swim. At the wall, Fallon finished runner-up for the second year in a row in the 200-yard breaststroke and collected his third first-team All-America honor in the event. The event was arguably the biggest upset of the meet, with Indiana breaststroke specialist Jassen Yep collecting the crown. Fallon had the fastest time heading into the meet.
“[The NCAA swim brought] so many emotions, because it feels like I’ve been swimming for Penn for so long, so quickly,” Fallon said. “I remember my first dual meet. It’s all gone by pretty quickly. I went out how I wanted to. I didn’t win, but I definitely was happy with my performance. I can’t really ask for any more.”
Penn has been part of Fallon’s life for a long time. Both his parents swam for the Red and Blue, and in Fallon’s first season, his brother was a senior on the men’s swimming and diving team. His father and brother also completed the same rigorous academic program — a dual degree in Wharton and Engineering.
“It’s been a journey that I’ve been happy to take. I’m happy to follow their footsteps, and it’s just exciting to finish it out,” Fallon said.
However, his swimming career has reached much bigger heights than his family members. Last summer, Fallon became the first American Penn swimmer to make Team USA, and in American record-breaking fashion, broke the 2:07 barrier in the 200-meter breaststroke. He went on to finish 10th at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Fallon was projected to medal but fell ill on race day.
In the lead-up to the Olympics, Fallon went part-time in order to focus on his training. As a result, Fallon’s graduation plans will be delayed by a full year. However, because Fallon competed for Penn each of the last four years, under Ivy League policy, which only grants an athlete four years of eligibility, Fallon’s time wearing the Red and Blue has come to an end.
Fallon has had an untraditional road to the top — missing the World Championship trials in 2022 due to final exams, an injury that led to an absence at 2023 NCAA championships, and the aforementioned illness while competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Fallon has consistently persevered. Later in 2023, Fallon made his first senior international team and took home a bronze medal at the World Championships.
“The ability to be more in tune with myself and understand what I need, and understand how I get better, the space that I need, what I really want to work for, and understand, like, what I kind of want to leave behind,” Fallon said, “that's what’s been the main aspect of my growth — understanding what I need to do and how I need to get there.”
While Fallon has consistently been the only Quaker to reach the national and international stage, coach Mike Schnur has been there every step of the way — from his first NCAAs in 2022 to the 2024 United States Swimming Olympic Trials to his final collegiate swim at NCAA championships in 2025.
“It’s definitely been amazing to have this last chapter of swimming with [Schnur],” Fallon said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better coach in my college career. He’s definitely pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted out of a coach for college.”
“Him and I, obviously we’re not completely in sync, but we can eventually get it down. And I think we can, in the long term, bond over everything that we’ve gone through,” Fallon added.
While Fallon closed the book on college swimming, just a couple days after the 2025 NCAA championships, Fallon competed at the TYR Pro Swim Series stop in Sacramento, Calif. He won the 200m breaststroke there and notched the sixth-fastest time in the world in the event.
“[The] Pro Series was just like to kind of dip my feet in the water for a long course and see where I’m at there,” Fallon said, noting that he hasn’t trained long course since the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Fallon again was the only swimmer to represent the Red and Blue on that stage. A Penn swimmer who stands arguably alone at the top representing the Red and Blue, Fallon describes his last day at the 2025 Ivy League championships as “magical” when competing alongside his Quakers teammates.
Unlike his career, his final words for the Red and Blue were simple:
“Go Penn.”
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