Roman Mityukov and Noè Ponti Headline Switzerland Team For Budapest
Roman Mityukov and Noè Ponti are among six athletes who will represent Switzerland at the World Short-Course Championships in Budapest next month.
The six were selected for the meet that runs from 10-15 December at the Duna Arena following last weekend’s Swiss Championships in Sursee.
Mityukov has reached the podium at every major international meet this year, starting his bull run at the World Championships in Doha where he won 200 back silver behind Hugo González of Spain which he followed that up with bronze at the European Championships in Belgrade.
He headed to Paris less than six weeks later where he won 200 back bronze in a Swiss record of 1:54.85 behind Hubert Kos and Apostolos Christou as European men enjoyed a clean sweep of the podium.
Mityukov’s medal was the fourth for Switzerland in the Olympic pool, all of them bronze. Jeremy Desplanches and Ponti were third in the 200IM and 100 fly respectively in Tokyo with Etienne Dagon on the third step of the 200m breaststroke rostrum in Los Angeles in 1984.
Noe Ponti: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala, Deepbluemedia
Ponti is currently doing military service in Switzerland and will head to Budapest on the back of a record-breaking World Cup tour.
The 23-year-old lowered the 50 fly s/c world record to 21.67 at the first stop in Shanghai before slicing a further 0.17 in Singapore to stop the clock at 21.50.
He also lowered his European 100 fly standard to 48.40 and finished second in the men’s overall standings behind Leon Marchand with the pair set to reunite in the Hungarian capital.
Ponti continued rewriting the Swiss history books last weekend in Sursee with a 50 free record of 21.18 leading off the SC Uster 4×50 free squad to victory, also in a national mark of 1:27.79.
He clinched an historic clean sweep of the butterfly events at last year’s European Short-Course Championships in Otopeni while also finishing second in the 100IM.
He was fourth in the 100 fly in Paris and fifth in the 200 although he told Swimming World that he is taking a break from the longer race – at least in the long-course pool – as he finds it mentally and physically draining.
Also competing is Antonio Djakovic, bronze medallist in the 200 and 400 free at the European Championships in Belgrade.
He also won bronze in the 400 free at the 2021 short-course worlds in Abu Dhabi.
Thierry Bollin won joint bronze in the 50 back at the continental meet last year, Louis Droupy set a Swiss 100m breaststroke record of 58.27 at last week’s championships while Marius Toscan is the rookie on the team.
Switzerland team for the World Short-Course Championships, Budapest
Roman Mityukov
Noè Ponti
Antonio Djakovic
Thierry Bollin
Louis Droupy
Marius Toscan