An injury interrupted season didn’t stop Matt Fallon from reaching the highs of South Australian State champion in the 40-44 age group – showing his grit, determination and never say die attitude.
Coming off the back of the Sydney Marathon, Matt was flying high and feeling good before an innocent roll of the ankle at his kids’ little athletics put a dampener on his season.
“I came really hard for that, was flying probably the fastest running I’d been for a very long time. And then two weeks after that, I sprained my ankle really bad. Of all the things I was doing, I was cheering on my kids doing a walk and yeah, I ended up in the moonboot for a month.”
And it’s fair to say the timing of the injury was less than ideal, right on the cusp of the Wollongong World Championships.
“I originally wanted to go under 2 hours, then my goal was then just to finish.”
Although it was not the ideal situation for Matt, one thing he did take away from the experience was setting a good example for his kids and proving no matter the obstacle or challenge you can always find a way around it.
“So my kids got to see it, and I was really conscious of that and they got to see me trying and not just out the front of the pack.
“My goal was just to complete it.”
Staring down the barrel of pain and potential damage, Matt stood strong and with every stride he grew in passion and determination eager to show his daughters that anything was possible.
But Matt hadn’t always had a burning desire for triathlon. In fact, he spent a large chunk of his time in athletics and as a boundary umpire in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL).
“And with all the twisting and turning in that, I ended up with that osteitis pubis, that sort of sore hip groin thing,” he explained.
Looking for ways to stay active during recovery, Matt looked to swimming and before he knew it, he had all the fundamentals to become a triathlete.
“I’d already been doing a little bit of cycling just for fun. So then I thought, okay, I can swim, I can cycle, I can run.”
Having worked in and around sport for a long time and as a qualified physiotherapist, Matt had heard about Ironman. Initially daunted by the distances and concept of the event, he opted for a shorter version – an introduction you could almost argue.
But that fear was short lived.
“About halfway through training for the half Ironman, I figured, well, I might as well do the whole thing and sign up for a full.”
Matt used Victor Harbor as a starting point for his triathlon career, and well the rest was history.
“I fell in love with it through there. And I’ve been doing it since, that was about 2012.”
The triathlon community is like nothing else for Matt, noting how people band together from all works of life to participate in race-day and have a good time.
“We all realise people come from different backgrounds, they have different amounts of time they can consume with it, different abilities, and they’re all happy with that.”
Matt, calls Lakers Triathlon Club home and has for the best part of 12 years noting the demographic ranges from juniors to over 60s making for a strong competitive group of athletes all pushing each other to reach their individual goals.
“Being a part of a club is such a special thing to kind of keep that passion going, the goals pushing and all of that nice to train with.”
“You think it’s an individual sport, but there is so much team or like camaraderie and club life.”
With a team supporting him in more ways than one, winning the State Championship Series title was a really special moment considering the gruelling year he’d had on the injury front.
“The competition motivates me to train, and the training is what’s keeping me healthy and keeping me going. State Championships gives an extra challenge and something to work for and to keep trying to do my best.”
Looking ahead to the 2026/27 season and Matt already has his eye on returning to the half Ironman distance and competing in all the local races in South Australia including defending his Standard Distance State Championship title.
