Ponti Pulverises Opponents With 21.32 World 50 'Fly Record To Become First Swiss Swimmer To Claim A Global Crown
Swiss sprint star becomes first Swiss swimmer ever to claim a global swimming title by dashing as fast on butterfly as Foster, Schoeman and Ervin did to hold the 50 free world record 24 years ago
Swiss sprint ace Noè Ponti crushed his rivals with a 21.32 World record to take the 50m butterfly crown at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest this evening.
If you're not quite sure what that speed means, try his: when Mark Foster (holder for just over a year at that stage) and Roland Schoeman shared the record for half a day back in 2000 before Anthony Ervin claimed the standard to take he NCAA title ahead of Schoeman, their 50m freestyle efforts were 21.31 and 21.21.
So, Ponti's right on 'em on 'fly 24 years on - and a chunk ahead of the best of the rest this day in Budapest, where only the medal winners got inside 22sec.
Having shaved 0.11 off his previous mark, Ponti, draped in a Swiss flag, did a lap of honour on the deck as the first swimmer from his country to claim a global title in his sport.
The most decorated Swiss swimmer in world waters is distance freestyle ace Flavia Rigamonti, who claimed three silvers in long-course racing and three bronzes in short-course racing between 1999 and 2007. Among men, Dano Halsall came closest when he claimed silver at the World long-course championships over 50m free in 1986.
His record carried a $25,000 bonus, while the twin successes of victory on World Cup Tour in October and November - when he set the global mark at 21.67 in Shanghai and then 21.50 in Singapore - delivered the double crown prize off $10.000.
The time, he place, the tile and on the money. No wonder his coach Massimo Meloni was delighted for Ponti:
Out in 9.74 and back in 11.58, Ponti, 23, celebrated a debut an d pioneering gold after having earned two silvers and a bronze at the 2021 and 2022 championships.
Ponti said:
“It feels amazing. I got there, finally, and I couldn’t be happier, especially with another world record. Before the race, I was quite nervous but I did what I had to."
The podium was completed by Ponti's fellow Olympic medallist in he 100m 'fly, Ilya Kharun, of Canada, who's 21.67 set an Americas record, and Dutch challenger Nyls Korstanje, 0.01sec adrift.
Gallery from Patrick B. Kraemer in Budapest:
The rest of the action on day 2 in Budapest:
Craig Lord
