By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
U.S. Olympian Matt Fallon will skip the U.S. World Championship Trials this summer in order to focus on an internship, he posted on his Instagram channel on Monday evening.
“Many thanks to my coaches (Mike, Andrew and Maddie) and of course all of my teammates at Penn who made last season so successful,” he said in the post. “For this summer I’ve decided to step away from major national competitions as I pursue an internship. I plan to continue to train throughout the summer.”
Fallon told SwimSwam that the internship will be in software engineering for a startup company in New York City. Fallon, 22, is from Warren, New Jersey, only about 35 miles west of Manhattan, and attends college at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, about a 75 minute train ride south of the city.
This isn’t the first time that Fallon has prioritized his academic pursuits over swimming. He skipped the 2022 International Team Trials because of a conflict with his final exams. This summer’s absence, however, also rules him out of next summer’s top-flight Team USA meet, the Pan Pacific Championships, because USA Swimming is picking that team along with the 2025 World Championships team this summer.
Fallon is double-majoring in Economics, Finance and Computer Science at Penn, scheduled to graduate in 2026, though his NCAA eligibility concluded at March’s NCAA Championship meet when he placed 2nd in the 200 yard breaststroke.
The 2025 US National Championships run from June 3-7 in Indianapolis, while the Summer Championships will be held August 5-8 in Irvine, California.
Fallon, 22, was named the PhillySIDA Academic All-Area Mea’s Swimming & Diving Performer of the Year last summer and is a multi-time CSCAA Academic All-America Award winner.
Fallon won the 200 breaststroke at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials in an American Record time of 2:06.54. He placed 10th in the semi-finals at the Olympic Games in 2:09.96.
At Penn, he was the Ivy League Champion in the 200 breaststroke three of his four seasons and finished in the top three of that event at the NCAA Championships three times. He missed the 2023 NCAA Championship meet with an injury.
The American men’s breaststroke ranks are very thin and in need of fresh blood headed toward the 2025 World Championships and beyond. Neither Charlie Swanson nor Nic Fink, the two representatives in the 100 breaststroke, have competed since the Olympic Games. The only breaststroker who seems suited for the National Championships is Josh Matheny, who finished 7th at the Olympics in the 200 breaststroke.
Matheny has raced once since the NCAA Championships, swimming 1:00.90 in the 100 meter breaststroke and 2:15.60 in the 200 meter breast at a meet at Ohio State in April.
Fallon is the U.S. leader this season in the 200 meter breaststroke in long course (2:09.58). 18-year-old Josh Bey, who will start his college career at Indiana next season, is the next-best American with a 2:12.61 from the Pro Swim Series meet in Westmont in early March.
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