2022 FINA SHORT COURSE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, December 13 to Sunday, December 18, 2022
- Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre, Melbourne, Australia
- SCM (25m)
- Prize Money
- Meet Site
- Meet Schedule
- How To Watch
- Meet Roster Index
- Psych Sheets (Updated)
- Live Results
- Day 5 Prelims Live Recap
Noe Ponti posted a big drop in the men’s 100 butterfly prelims at the 2022 Short Course World Championships, clocking a time of 48.81 to lower his own Swiss record by more than half a second and become the sixth man ever under the 49-second barrier.
He cruised to the top seed this morning by a comfortable margin of .62 seconds.
MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – Prelims
- World Record: 47.78, Caeleb Dressel (USA), 2020
- World Junior Record: 49.53, Li Zhuhao (CHN), 2017
- Championship Record: 48.08, Chad le Clos (RSA), 2016
- 2021 Champion: 48.87, Matteo Rivolta (ITA)
Top 16:
- Noe Ponti (SUI) – 48.81
- Matteo Rivolta (ITA) – 49.43
- Youssef Ramadan (EGY) – 49.64
- Ilya Kharun (CAN) – 49.66
- Matthew Temple (AUS) – 49.85
- Chad le Clos (RSA) – 49.88
- Marius Kusch (GER) – 49.89
- Simon Bucher (AUT) – 50.06
- Yuya Sakamoto (JPN) – 50.09
- Yuya Tanaka (JPN) – 50.22
- Jakub Majerski (POL) – 50.30
- Jan Sefl (CZE) – 50.44
- Shaun Champion (AUS) – 50.54
- Daniel Zaitsev (EST) – 50.55
- Nyls Korstanje (NED) – 50.59
- Adilibek Mussin (KAZ) – 50.64
The 21-year-old shaved .57 seconds off his own national record of 49.38 from October’s World Cup stop in Berlin. The improvement rocketed him from 20th in the all-time performer rankings all the way up to No. 6.
Top SCM 100 Fly Performers, All-Time
- Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 47.78, 2020
- Chad le Clos (RSA) – 48.08, 2016
- Tom Shields (USA) – 48.47, 2020
- Evgenii Korotyshkin (RUS) – 48.48, 2009
- Matteo Rivolta (ITA) – 48.64, 2021
- Noe Ponti (SUI) – 48.81, 2022
- Marius Kusch (GER) – 49.06, 2019
- Ian Crocker (USA) – 49.07, 2004
- Coleman Stewart (USA) – 49.10, 2021
- Simone Stefani (ITA) – 49.13, 2021
Ponti first dipped under the 50-second mark last November with a 49.98. Then at last year’s Short Course Worlds, he went 49.49 before bringing his lifetime best down to 49.38 in October.
Ponti’s 100 Fly Progression (All Swiss National Records)
- 48.81 – December, 2022
- 49.38 – October, 2022
- 49.49 – December, 2021
- 49.98 – November, 2021
- 50.82 – December, 2019
- 51.81 – December, 2017
The 100 fly was Ponti’s first individual national record at just 16 years old back in December of 2017. He rewrote Alexandre Haldemann‘s Swiss record of 52.00 from 2014 by going 51.81. Ponti has since lowered his own national record by exactly three seconds over the past five years.
The national record is Ponti’s third of the meet after reseting marks in the 50 fly (21.96) and 200 fly (1:49.42) on the first two nights of competition in Melbourne. Those times earned him a silver and bronze medal, respectively, but he’s still eyeing his first gold medal at a major senior international meet.
No other swimmer recorded a sub-13 split on either of the final two lengths of the pool, but Ponti achieved the feat on both laps as he came home in 12.75 and 12.93. He was slightly slower than his previous-best split at the midway point before dropping nearly a second on the back half.
Splits Comparison
| Noe Ponti, 2022 SC Worlds | Noe Ponti, 2022 World Cup – Berlin | |
| 50 Fly | 23.13 | 22.85 |
| 50 Fly | 25.68 | 26.53 |
| 100 Fly Total | 48.81 | 49.38 |
Ponti will need that closing speed in order to secure the 100 fly victory tomorrow night against a fast field featuring Chad le Clos, who beat him at the World Cup stop in Berlin where Ponti posted his previous best as well as in the 200 fly earlier this week. Le Clos qualified sixth for tonight’s semifinal with a time of 49.88.
The U.S. didn’t put any swimmers in the semifinal after Shaine Casas scratched and Michael Andrew ranked 30th overall, placing seventh in the fifth heat with a 51.93.