- Noè Ponti wins his semi-final over 200 m butterfly at the swimming world championships in Budapest and easily qualifies for the final (live on Tuesday at 18:54).
- In the semifinals, the Ticino beat his own national record from Monday morning by another 55 hundredths of a second.
- The Italian Thomas Ceccon causes a sensation with a new world record over 100 m backstroke.
A year ago at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Noè Ponti missed the final of the 200 m butterfly by a measly 0.06 seconds. At the World Championships in Budapest, the Ticino didn’t let the hundredths count. With the third best time of all 16 semi-finalists, Ponti confidently bought his final ticket.
The 21-year-old completed the 200 meters in 1:54.20 minutes, which is 0.55 seconds faster than in the run-up on Monday morning, when he also broke his own Swiss record. Only the Hungarian top favorite and world record holder Kristof Milak (1:52.39) and the Japanese Tomoru Honda (1:54.01) were faster than Ponti in the semifinals.
Ceccon breaks world record
Thomas Ceccon provided the highlight of the evening. The Italian swam the race of his life over 100 meters backstroke in the final and set a new world record in 51.60 seconds. Ceccon beat his personal best by over half a second and the previous world record by 0.25 seconds.
The 21-year-old won the duel for World Cup gold against the previous record holder, Ryan Murphy. The American’s record has stood since the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
17th world title for Ledecky
Katie Ledecky was once again in a class of her own. The American secured her second World Championship gold medal in Budapest in the 1500 meter freestyle and her 17th World Championship gold overall. In the final, the 25-year-old distanced her competition by 14 seconds and more with a time of 15:30.15 minutes. Ledecky is already the most successful swimmer of all time.