Matt Fallon Breaks National High School Record in 400 Meter Free

Matthew Fallon of the Pingry School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, has broken the National High School Record in the 400 short course meters freestyle.

Swimming in her home pool against Phillipsburg High School, Pingry won their season-ending dual meet by a score of 122-48. With no championship or high school state meets this year in New Jersey, the meet concluded the team’s season.

During the meet, Fallon swam 3:50.65 in the 400 short course meters freestyle, which breaks the NISCA National Independent High School Record of 3:51.32 set in 2008 by Martin Grodski of The Baylor School.

Clip of the race finish:

Congrats to Matt Fallon ‘21 for breaking the @NISCAswim national record in the 400 freestyle! #PingryAthletics #PingrySwim pic.twitter.com/3ZpvTKxjmO

— Pingry Athletics (@PingryAthletics) March 25, 2021

While NISCA doesn’t formally recognize ‘overall’ National High School Record, Fallon’s time is also under the public school record of 3:53.30 set in 2017 by another New Jerseyan: Destin Lasco of Mainland Regional High School.

While short course meters in a 25-meter pool is an official approved high school course in swimming, it is far less common for competition than short course yards in a 25-yard pool.

That means most of the records in short course meters are from ‘in-season’ swims, rather than shaved-and-tapered championships.

Note that NISCA also tracks a 500 short course meters freestyle national record, which is an event that is unique to high school swimming.

Fallon also swam 1:01.62 in the 100 breaststroke on Thursday, and was a member of the Pingry winning 400 free relay and 200 medley relay. Fallon already holds the National Independent High School Record in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:01.04 done in 2019.

Fallon spent part of the winter training with Fred Lewis at St. Petersburg Aquatics in Florida for about 6 weeks from the end of December into the new year, but has been back in New Jersey since February. His planned shave-and-taper meet for the yards season is a “Y Festival” meet in April, part of the multi-site replacement for the canceled YMCA National Championships.

Fallon, the #8 recruit in the class of 2021, is committed to swim at Penn next season, making him the highest-caliber recruit of the modern era for the Quakers.