World Championships: Noè Ponti: Banishing Ghosts Of The Past, Seeking Silverware & Making Swiss History
Noè Ponti has visited Olympic and European podiums and rewritten the short-course record books but the World Championships evoke few positive memories for the Swiss athlete.
While he swept all before him as he toppled world records en-route to the 50/100 fly double and 100IM title at the short-course worlds in Budapest last December, his experiences in the global 50m pool have been marked by Covid-19 and a miscalculated taper.
Noè Ponti: Photo courtesy: European Aquatics
Ponti made his worlds debut at Budapest 2022 where he finished fourth in the 200 fly, finishing almost four seconds behind Kristóf Milák as the Hungarian set a WR of 1:50.34 in the adjacent lane. He followed that with eighth in the 100, a year after he won Olympic bronze in Tokyo.
On his return from the Hungarian capital, Ponti tested positive for Covid-19 and his breathing was so affected that after three weeks he went to see a pulmonologist – a lung specialist – who diagnosed bronchial asthma.
A year later he arrived at the training camp in Fuji City in great shape as he fine-tuned his preparations for the Fukuoka worlds. However, it became apparent that he’d started to taper too soon and by the time he reached the competition, he was physically and mentally done.
Ponti finished seventh in the 100 fly and didn’t make the 50 and 200 finals. It’s fair to say then, that the worlds haven’t been kind to Ponti.
“You can say it like that,” he said. “Definitely. My experiences were never the best, let’s say.”
Ponti Seeks Missing Piece Of Silverware
Ponti was speaking to Swimming World ahead of the World Championships in Singapore where he’ll compete in the 50 and 100 fly with the 200 not on his programme in 2025.
The only medal missing from his armoury is one from the long-course worlds and he has made clear his objective to put that right rather than speak about process and subsequent outcome whatever that may be.
“So, after everything I did last year short course, it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t say that I want to win a medal,” he said. “People expect it from me and they will expect it from me, so they’re going to say it anyway so why am I not going to say it?
“Of course, I’ve got to make it to the final. In Fukuoka I didn’t make the 50 fly final for example so of course it would be nice to come home with a medal. If it’s not going to be this year, then two years from now.”
Noè Ponti: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Up first is the 50 fly with the prelims on the opening day of competition (27 July) and the final the following day.
Ponti stands fourth in the rankings with his 22.74 from the Sette Colli, 0.06 behind Ilya Kharun’s topper of 22.68 followed by Maxime Grousset (22.70) and Nyls Korstanje (22.72).
The 100 then goes on 1 and 2 August in which Ponti topped the rankings for a couple of months following his 50.27 at the Swiss Championships before Grousset’s 50.11 French record last month.
Ponti believes 22.7 will make the one-length podium with 50.0/50.1 required for a 100 medal and 49 to win.
Should he claim gold in either race, Ponti would make history as the first Swiss man to win a world title in the long-course pool.
Roman Mityukov has won 200 back silver and bronze in 2024 and 2023 respectively while Jeremy Desplanches and Dano Halsall were second in the 200IM and 50 free respectively in 2019 and 1986.
History within his grasp, then? “I’m going to tell you in 27 days,” he laughed.
“I don’t know, anything can happen. I’m not the only one who is training for this so of course when you dive in the pool, the thing you want to do is beat the other guys, touch first.
“It’s like that for me and for the other guys so it is within reach and I know what I’m capable of. Everything needs to be perfect that day so I’m going to control what I can control and do my thing: I can’t control the other guys – if another guy goes 48.9 and I go 49.2 then the other guy goes faster than me and there’s not going to be a world champion in Switzerland for another couple of years.”
One swimmer who won’t be in Singapore is Olympic 100 fly champion Milak, who won the title in 2022, with the Hungarian withdrawing last month citing a lack of drive.
Ponti, though, doesn’t pay too much attention to who isn’t going to be there.
“Kristof Milak, we know is very good but he isn’t better than us right now.
“Last year he won in 49.9 and at least four or five guys, we all can swim that time. Right now, he is not the Kristof that he used to be in 2022 and 2021 maybe – there isn’t such a big gap. There is one guy less there but another might come out of nowhere.”
Meloni Overcome As “Perfect” Ponti Lowers Dressel WR
Massimo Meloni has coached Ponti since September 2019 with the pair working together at the Swiss Aquatics Training Base in Tenero.
When asked to describe Ponti, he told Swimming World: “In the training he is perfect. When I ask him (to do) everything there is no distraction. He is a robot, a computer. He is unbelievable.”
Meloni was overcome with emotion when Ponti set the 100 fly short-course WR at the Duna Arena in December 2024. The fact the record he lowered from 47.78 to 47.71 had been owned by Caeleb Dressel was especially significant for Ponti who described the American as “a legend of our sport.”
Noè Ponti: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Meloni recalled:
“I think at the pool everyone saw I was crying. After four world records in the 50 fly this is unbelievable but the competition for us is the 100. The 100 fly world record of Dressel is unbelievable. Noè arrived two strokes before another swimmer got to the wall. I think if the 100 was the first day and not the last, Noè is swimming a 47.0. “But I am very happy because this time is amazing, every 25 was perfect.”
Ponti scorched his way around the World Cup circuit last year. He lowered the 50 fly WR to 21.67 in Shanghai before subsequently reducing it to 21.50 during the Singapore stop of the tour. Next stop Budapest where he blasted 21.43 in the semis before going 21.32 in the final.
For the 24-year-old, the competition represented some atonement for the Olympics where he finished fourth in the 100 – 0.10 off Kharun in third – and fifth in the 200.
“I think Budapest was really an amazing competition: it was actually an amazing two or three months from October to December. Especially after the Olympics in Paris and missing the podium probably because of mistakes. It was really nice to be able to have a little redemption even though it was short course.”
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