Penn swimmer Matt Fallon earns Olympic bid by winning 200-meter breaststroke at U.S. trials
He's the first swimmer in Penn history to make the U.S. team. Meanwhile, Douglassville's Chris Guiliano won the 100-meter freestyle.
Penn’s swimming and diving team will have an Olympic athlete representing the United States for the first time in program history.
Matt Fallon, a junior from Warren, N.J., won the 200-meter breaststroke final on Wednesday night at the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis, which earned him a spot on the national team for the Paris Games. His time of 2 minutes, 6.54 seconds broke the American record in the event and was the fastest time in the world this year. Josh Prenot had held the previous record, 2:07.17, since 2016.
Fallon, who finished last in the 200 breaststroke final at the 2021 Olympic trials after finishing first in the prelims and semifinals, was visibly excited after winning the race.
“It doesn’t really feel real yet. Honestly, I could be dreaming right now, and I wouldn’t know it,” Fallon told NBC Sports after the race. “All the work that I put in this year, everyone from my parents, my teammates, my coaches that just helped me get here … it still feels surreal. I’m just thankful to get here.
“I just wanted to really go out here and have fun, and I definitely did in that race.”
In Tuesday night’s semifinal, Fallon swam the third-fastest time in the world (2:07.39) to earn the top seed for the final.
This performance comes on the heels of Fallon’s second-place finish in the event at the NCAA championships in April and his bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships. Fallon also won the event at the U.S. championships last summer.
Guiliano wins the 100 free
Right after Fallon’s win, another local swimmer took home a win. Notre Dame swimmer Chris Guiliano, a native of Douglassville, Berks County, won the 100-meter freestyle in 47.38 seconds to earn his spot in the individual event at Paris. On Monday, he qualified for Olympics by finishing second in the 200 freestyle final. He became the first Notre Dame male swimmer to become an U.S. Olympian.
The Daniel Boone High School grad also will compete on the 4x100 freestyle relay at the Olympics alongside Caeleb Dressel, Hunter Armstrong, and Jack Alexy.