Published on January 16, 2025 at 3:39 p.m. / Modified on January 16, 2025 at 7:36 p.m.
3 mins. reading
It’s 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the evening dedicated to Noè Ponti will only start in half an hour but the Gottardo gymnasium, at the National Youth Sports Center (CST) in Tenero, is packed. It is here, where he learned to swim at the age of 6, that the CST and his hometown, Gambarogno, invited the Ticino residents to come and celebrate the local hero, who returned from the World Championships in mid-December in short course with three gold medals and three world records. A unique feat in the history of Swiss swimming.
More than 500 people responded to the call. There are elderly people, families, young athletes wearing their club jackets, local political figures, the entire population of Gambarogno… We kiss and greet each other in dialect. Passes by Mauro Ponti, Noè’s father, who, between two hugs, reminds us of the champion’s beginnings. “Basically, we were not a family of swimmers. But from his first lessons at 3 or 4 years old to familiarize himself with water, his teachers told us that they had never seen anything like this. At 6 years old, Noè started training because Asia, her older sister, went to the swimming pool for her back. At 12-13 years old, we saw his results, but we never had expectations, we didn’t push him. As long as he was having fun, it was OK. And today, here it is!”
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