INDIANAPOLIS – Rising senior
Matthew Fallon is going to the Olympics!
The University of Pennsylvania men's swimming & diving standout became the first American swimmer in program history to qualify for the United States national team at the Olympics after breaking the American record in the 200-meter breaststroke at U.S. Olympic Trials Wednesday evening at Lucas Oil Stadium. He took first place with a time of 2:06.54 to break Josh Prenot's time of 2:07.17 set back in 2016.
Fallon becomes just the fifth men's student-athlete in program history to qualify for the Olympics joining Keanan Dols '22 in 2020 for Jamaica, diver
Rob Cragg '75 in 1976 for the United States, William G.M. Slater '62 in 1956 for Canada, and Francis Jones Gosling '40 in 1948 for Bermuda.
The fastest time in the world so far in 2024, Fallon topped Josh Matheny by over two seconds (2:08.86) and AJ Pouch (2:09.05) to make the U.S. Olympic team.
On Tuesday, Fallon became the first Quaker to qualify for a final at Trials after winning his heat and swimming to a first-place finish overall with the third-fastest time in the world and second-fastest in American history (2:07.39) in the semifinal.
Edging the top seed entering the semifinals, AJ Pouch, by 0.61 seconds, Fallon is the favorite heading into Wednesday after topping Pouch, Josh Matheny (2:08.79), Jake Foster (2:09.57), and Daniel Roy (2:09.65) to round out the top five.
China's Haiyang Qin remains the world record holder of 2:05.48 after claiming the gold medal at last year's World Championships, but that mark seems more and more attainable after what Fallon accomplished in the pool on Wednesday.
Fallon entered the week as the top seed in the 200 breast with a time of 2:07.71 after winning a U.S. National title last summer before winning the bronze medal at World Championships in Japan. The junior standout had a strong third season for the Quakers in 2024, winning the Ivy League title in the 200-yard breast in March before taking second place at NCAA Championships in the same event later that month, earning first-team All-America honors.
He also competed in the 100 breast over the weekend, taking 13th overall with a time of 1:00.38 to just miss out on qualifying for the finals.
Anna Kalandadze swam the 1,500 freestyle on Tuesday, recording a 29th-place finish, five spots better than her seed with a time of 16:53.24. She officially closed the book on her Penn career Friday with a 32nd-place finish in the 800 free, clocking in at 8:49.36.
Kevin Keil saw his time at Olympic Trials come to an end on Sunday after swimming to a 61st-place finish in the 400 IM with a time of 4:28.22.
Daniel Gallagher competed in the heats of the 200-meter backstroke on Wednesday morning, taking 60th place with a time of 2:05.02.
The Quakers will close their time out at Trials on Friday and Saturday when Kalandadze competes in the 800 free. Friday's heat will be streamed on Peacock with finals set for coverage on NBC on Saturday. Timing will be announced when available. Follow @PennSwimDive on X for more information.
For the latest on Penn swimming & diving, follow @PennSwimDive on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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