Extraordinary Noè Ponti! The Ticino picked up a third title at the Short Course World Championships in Budapest after setting his third world record of the week.
Victorious in the 50m butterfly and the 100m medley, Noè Ponti won in the 100m butterfly, his favorite discipline. He won in 47”71 to beat American Caeleb Dressel’s world record by 0”07. “I beat my idol’s world record. It’s completely crazy,” says the 23-year-old swimmer in disbelief. “I’m not someone who talks a lot before races. I wouldn’t tell you if I had this Dressel record in my head I just wanted to swim this race well. It’s my favorite. So winning it with the world record as a bonus was really a great moment in terms of emotions.
Best time in the semi-finals, Noè Ponti swam the first 50 meters in 22”16 to leave his opponents no chance. He is ahead of Frenchman Maxime Gousset by 0”86 and Australian Matthew Temple by 1”00. In this 100m butterfly, there was Noè Ponti and the others.
With this hat-trick in Budapest which brought him a check for 105,000 dollars, Noè Ponti has undoubtedly forgotten the disappointment of the Paris Games, with this fourth place in the 100m butterfly three years after having climbed onto the podium of the Games from Tokyo. During these short course Worlds, the Ticino native truly touched the sublime. “I now hope to continue in the same way over the coming months and years,” slips Noè Ponti.
