BIOGRAPHY

Born for the water

Noè Ponti was born on 1 June 2001 in Locarno, in the heart of Ticino. His affinity with water came very early: he swam on his own, without support, before the age of three. At six he started competing and never stopped.

In 2015 he joined the Swiss youth national team. Two years later, at the 2017 European Youth Olympic Festival, he won two silvers and a bronze: the first signs of an extraordinary talent. That same year he joined the elite Olympic squad.

2024 was the year of his coronation. Noè describes a "nearly perfect" season: three 50m butterfly short-course world records across the World Cup stops in Shanghai, Incheon and Singapore.

In December, at the short-course World Championships in Budapest, the apotheosis: three golds and five world records. He lowered the 50m butterfly mark to 21.32, smashed the 100m butterfly in 47.71 erasing Caeleb Dressel's record, and also took the 100m medley.

His idol has always been Michael Phelps. Today Noè is one of the fastest men ever over the distance he loves most.