Coronado High graduate Dylan Matter, 19, and his 73-year-old grandfather Doug Matter are racing around the world on Season 39 of The Amazing Race on CBS. The pair survived the two-night premiere and remain among 11 teams still competing for the $1 million prize.
Dylan, who attended Coronado Unified School District (CUSD) schools as a transfer student from elementary through high school, told the Coronado Eagle & Journal that his grandfather introduced him to the show around age 8. Doug, known as "Pop," watched Dylan after school while both parents worked. Dylan said he told his grandfather then that they would someday apply together.
The promise held.
On Dylan's 18th birthday, the two went skydiving together. About a month later, they filmed an audition video in one take and sent it in. Dylan said Doug never expected to be cast. Pop figured producers would worry about his age. When the call came, Dylan said they both teared up.
Dylan said the hardest part of the race was keeping his composure under pressure. Pop's decades as a firefighter made the difference, he said. "He's been a firefighter for, I think, 35 years or so; he was a fire captain. And so he knows how to stay calm in those high-pressure situations … he really kept me grounded through the whole race."
Doug is the oldest contestant on Season 39, but Dylan said the age gap never felt like a disadvantage. What he lacked in life experience, Pop made up for. Their advance strategy split duties: Dylan took physical and memory challenges while Doug handled building, cooking and heights.
The pair prepared by rewatching past seasons and training in archery, axe throwing and memorizing world flags and country capitals. Dylan also learned to drive a manual transmission and read paper maps, according to a pre-premiere profile in the Coronado Times.
In that Sept. 16 interview, Doug summed up the experience in one word: "stick-to-itiveness."
During his senior year at Coronado High, Dylan served as ASB president and served on the CUSD Board of Trustees as a student board member representing all four district schools. He played right field on the CHS baseball team for four years. He is now a student at the University of Southern California.
Season 39 features 13 teams racing across five continents, nine countries and 13 cities. The two-night premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 30, and Thursday, Oct. 1, eliminated two teams. Doug and Dylan advanced.
Episode 3 airs Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 9:30 p.m. ET on CBS, taking teams from Spain to Morocco. New episodes air Wednesdays and stream on Paramount+.
