Noè Ponti is still on course for a medal at the European Short Course Championships in Lublin. The swimmer from Ticino wins his second gold medal in the 100 m medley in his second start.
04.12.2025, 19:17
04.12.2025, 21:05
SDA
Ponti is aiming for four titles at the championships in Poland. "And yes, so far everything is going according to plan - and very well for me," says Ponti after his latest success.
"It was extremely close"
Gold medals are slowly becoming a habit for him. Accordingly, Noè Ponti is still very relaxed. He expects gold medals from himself. Ponti celebrated a start-to-finish victory in the medley final - apart from the fact that he reacted slower than the other finalists at the start. But after the dolphin section he was (as expected) already in the lead, in the backstroke and breaststroke he remained confidently in front, only on the final crawl section did the Frenchman Maxime Grousset come very, very close to him.
"Yes, it was extremely close. But luckily I stayed in front - I'm extremely happy about that," said Ponti immediately after the race.
"I saw Grousset coming"
A much-used word these days in Lublin for Ponti is "control". Ponti wants to control his energy levels in Lublin. In the medley final, he almost overdid it with his race control. Before the final, Ponti exuded confidence because "I know that I am the fastest crawler in the last 25 meters". However, Grousset made up ground in the final on the last lane length. In the end, one hundredth of a second decided in Ponti's favor. At the long track world championships in Singapore last summer, Ponti had lost the hundredth of a second thriller against Grousset.
Ponti was well aware that Grousset was also going for gold alongside him: "Yes, of course I saw him coming. I had to give it my all." And how does that work? "In the end, it was all about keeping your head under water and going full throttle - and not thinking anything. If you think, you lose!"
Two more chances
Ponti closed a gap in his palmarès with his victory in the 100 m medley. He already won the world title in the 100 m medley in Budapest a year ago. Now, for the first time, he also won the European Championship title over the medley distance, which he narrowly missed out on two years ago. Ponti won in 50.52 seconds, the best time ever swum at the European Championships.
Noè Ponti wants to win more gold medals in the 100 m dolphin (on Friday) and 200 m dolphin (on Sunday). The 24-year-old has already set the fastest time in the semi-finals of the 100 m dolphin.
