Noè Ponti on preparing for the Olympics, home and meditation

The routine is irrevocable, from Monday to Saturday. So it's seven o'clock sharp when Noè Ponti arrives at the National Sports Center with his skateboard, his hair under a hood and headphones over his ears. "The motivation isn't always the same, that's for sure," laughs the man from Ticino, who received the "Keystone-SDA" news agency at the beginning of June.

"I don't think there is anyone who is always one hundred percent motivated," Ponti explains. "It's normal that there are days when you don't feel like doing anything. Even if you love your job, sometimes you prefer to stay in bed. But it's precisely these days that make you grow as an athlete."

"Training well and being strong when you're doing well is a given for everyone," explains Ponti. "You have to be able to make the difference on those days when you're not feeling so good, when you're not so motivated. Not everyone is able to do that, and that's why it makes the difference between a good athlete and a world-class athlete."

A love of Ticino

Ponti undoubtedly belongs to the second category. The exceptional talent made his big breakthrough in Tokyo 2021. At the age of 20, he won his first international medal at the highest level. "I don't think this medal came too soon. It didn't fundamentally change my life," he recalls.

Before his exploit in Tokyo, Ponti had decided to try his hand in the USA, at North Carolina State University. He abandoned the experiment after just a few months. There he was too far away from his family and friends and just one swimmer among many others. It was not the environment he had hoped for.

"I'm happy that I gave it a go. But I'm also very glad I went back because it wasn't the right thing to do three years ago. I'm glad that I didn't lose too much time, even if it was nice to get to know a new culture," said the protégé of Italian coach Massimo Meloni.

Can he imagine leaving Ticino again at some point? "I'm leaving all doors open, after all I don't know what will happen in two, three, four or five years' time," says Ponti. "I would like to gain experience abroad, either during my career or afterwards."

"If I needed a change, a new motivation in my career as an athlete, then I would have to change something. But everything is going well at the moment," smiles Ponti. "I have everything I need here, my family is here, my coaches are here and my swimming pool is here. It really is the perfect place to train for something big. The most important thing for an athlete is to train in a place where they feel comfortable."

"Of course I'm not always here, I'm often abroad. But I feel at home here," says Ponti, who lives just a few minutes' skateboarding from the swimming pool in Tenero. "It's the best place to recharge my batteries, especially mentally."

The pressure and the energy balance

The sport of swimming is not only extremely demanding physically, but also and especially mentally. "When you start to have good results, the pressure comes automatically. Especially from the media and the fans." The pressure is all the greater the closer the Olympic Games get. "It's impossible not to think about the Games. Unless you play football or ice hockey, the Games are the biggest thing, and they only take place every four years."

"You have to do your best to keep the pressure down. It's important to keep it under control, which I haven't always managed to do in the past. But with experience, this ability comes slowly," says Ponti, who is still waiting for a world championship medal in the big pool. "Sometimes you're more nervous or feel the adrenaline more. You have to know how to stay on course and train normally."

"The most important thing is to be at 100 percent mentally at the Olympic Games, even if you're only at 95 percent physically," says Ponti, who uses a mental coach. "At the moment, I'm mainly working on controlling my energy levels so that I can recharge my batteries, regardless of the circumstances." Meditation helps him with this. "I can then concentrate fully on myself. It also helps me to visualize my races in Paris."

No guarantee

Ponti leaves it open as to whether he visualizes a podium finish. But he makes no secret of his ambitions. With a time of 50.16 seconds, he is the second fastest in the world in the 100 m dolphin this year. "But that doesn't give you any guarantees," he says, putting the starting position for the Summer Games into perspective. "But we are working to get the maximum out of Paris. The most difficult stage will be the semi-final. After that, anything is really possible in the final. I just hope that I can give it my best shot."