The day after winning the title in the 50 m dolphin, Noè Ponti is also on top of his game in his second discipline at the World Short Course Championships in Budapest.
With a time of 51.67 seconds, Ponti clearly beat his Swiss record, which he set at the World Cup in Shanghai in October, in the preliminary heat of the 100 m medley. However, only the Croatian (51.32) was faster than the Ticino native, who felt a little tired just a few hours after winning his first World Championship gold medal and still has a lot of potential for improvement.
In the absence of Léon Marchand, Ponti's personal best times also make him a prime contender for World Championship gold in this discipline. He is the only participant with a time under 51 seconds. The semi-finals will take place on Thursday shortly after 7pm.
In addition to Ponti, three other Swiss athletes competed in the Duna Arena in Budapest on Thursday morning - with varying degrees of success. While Thierry Bollin qualified for the semi-finals in the 50 m backstroke with the eleventh best time (23.29), Antonio Djakovic and Marius Toscan were eliminated. The latter missed out on a place in the final of the 200 m dolphin despite setting a personal best. Djakovic finished 18th in the 400 m crawl, well above his Swiss record.
