Switzerland’s Noe Ponti ended 2025 on a high as he won three golds and a silver at the EA Short Course Championships in Lublin – just as he had done at the previous edition in Otopeni two years earlier.

Earlier in the year he won 50m and 100m butterfly world silvers in Singapore, finishing behind France’s Maxime Grousset on both occasions.

A Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist, Ponti’s ambitions were not fully realized during the Paris 2024 Games as he narrowly failed to add a further medal in either the 100 or 200m butterfly.

But by the end of 2024 Ponti, now 25, had set five short course world records and earned three golds at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships (25m).

While Ponti has won three golds and a silver at the last two EA Short Course Championships, he has only won one European long course medal so far after finishing second in the 100m butterfly at the Rome 2022 edition.

He hopes to change that in the French capital next month…

Looking back now on your Paris 2024 experiences, which do you most clearly recall? How do you reflect on those Games following your bronze at Tokyo 2020?

I think the Olympics in Paris were a great experience overall. Taking part in the Olympic Games is always a huge honour for me, especially representing my country on the biggest stage in sport.

 Of course, there was also a bit of disappointment because things didn’t go exactly the way we had hoped or expected, but that’s part of sport. I finished fourth and fifth, and after winning a bronze medal in Tokyo, I really hoped to win another medal in Paris – maybe even more than one.

But in the end, it was still an incredible experience and a very important learning opportunity for me. I think that after Paris I was able to grow both as an athlete and as a person.

So overall, even if the results were not exactly what I wanted, I still look back on those Games positively.

What do you remember of the Olympic atmosphere and the city? Did it feel different to other competitions?

The atmosphere in the city and during the Olympic Games is always something special – it’s magical. There is so much going on everywhere and you can really feel the energy around the event. What makes the Olympics so unique is having all the different sports and athletes together in one place, with people coming from all over the world to watch and support.

It’s still crazy for me to think that I’ve already been able to take part in two Olympic Games and experience that atmosphere.

Paris was especially special because Tokyo was very different due to the pandemic. In Paris, you could really feel the excitement in the city and around the venues, and I loved that.

And yes, it definitely felt different from other competitions, even compared to the World Championships.

The pressure is higher because the Olympics are the biggest stage in sport – it’s the best of the best, and it only happens once every four years. So overall, it was an incredible experience.

Did you have any bad moments in Paris 2024?

I mean, there were a lot of good moments in Paris, but also some difficult ones – some ups and downs. I would say the worst moment was right after the 100 butterfly final, where I finished fourth.

Of course, I was hoping to win a medal, and I had trained for it and done everything possible to be ready. But in the end, something didn’t go exactly as planned and mentally I probably wasn’t at 100%. That definitely cost me, and finishing fourth was a big disappointment at the time.

But at the same time, when you take a step back, finishing fourth at the Olympic Games is still an incredible achievement. Most athletes never get close to that level, so even if it hurt in the moment I still appreciate what I achieved there.

How different as an athlete and a person do you think you are heading into Paris 2026 compared to Paris 2024?

I’m two years older now, so maybe a bit more mature as both an athlete and a person. Of course, Paris 2026 will also be very different because it’s a European Championship and not the Olympic Games, so the whole atmosphere and context are different.

But over the past two years, especially after the Olympics, I think I’ve really grown. I’ve improved as a swimmer, but also personally, and I’ve achieved some amazing results during that time. So it will be interesting and exciting to see what I can do this summer.

I’ve actually never been very lucky at European Championships because of illnesses and different setbacks, so hopefully this year I’ll finally be able to compete at 100% and show my best level.

What are your personal ambitions for Paris 2026? How important will it be for you to try for a first European long course gold following your silver in 2022?

I can’t hide my ambitions – of course I would like to win medals, and it would be great to come home with gold medals. But at the same time I know I’m not the only one training hard.

The level in Europe right now, especially in the butterfly events, is extremely high, so the competition will be very tough.

Still, that’s what makes it exciting. I won a silver medal in the 100 butterfly back in 2022, and this year I would love to fight for medals in both the 50 and 100 butterfly. But again, there are many strong swimmers, so we’ll have to see how things go.

In 2024, I also had to pull out of the semi-finals because of illness, which was obviously frustrating. So this year the most important thing first is to arrive healthy and be able to compete at my best level.

How do you reflect on 2025 – two world silvers, tour de force golds in Lublin? Are you looking forward to locking horns with Maxime Grousset once more?

2025 was a really great year for me, and overall everything went very smoothly. I can be very happy with what I achieved.

Winning two world silver medals in Singapore was amazing, especially finishing behind Maxime in such high-level races. I also had a great competition in Lublin, so overall the season was very positive.

I raced against Maxime a lot throughout the year, and I really enjoy competing with him. He’s also a friend of mine, so there is a lot of mutual respect between us, but at the same time he’s definitely one of my biggest rivals in the pool.

This year will be special because the Championships are in France, so we’ll be racing in front of his home crowd.

Of course, the support will mostly be on his side, but that also makes it exciting. I’m really looking forward to it because I think there will be some very fast races and a great atmosphere overall.

How significant will the Paris 2026 Championships be for you in terms of a marker on the route to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics?

Of course the main goal is Los Angeles 2028, and everything we do now is part of the preparation towards those Olympic Games.

But every season also has its own important championships and targets. This year it’s the European Championships, next year it will be the World Championships, so for me it’s very important to perform at my best level every summer.

This year we also changed a few things in training because when you want to keep improving, sometimes you need to adapt and try new approaches.

So Paris 2026 will be a very good test for us to see if the work we’ve done is moving in the right direction, what works well, and what maybe still needs adjustments.

In that sense, this season is a very important transition year. After this, there are only two years left until LA 2028, so if we wanted to experiment with certain things or make changes, this was the right time to do it.

That’s why Paris will be an important checkpoint for me, and of course I’ll try to swim as fast as possible there.

Were you able to have friends and family watching you in Paris? If so, how special was that and will it happen again this summer?

Yes, at the Olympic Games in Paris I had a lot of family there supporting me. My parents, my sister, my uncle, my cousins – they all came to cheer for me. They always try to follow me and support me wherever I compete, and that’s something very special for me.

Having family around during such big events means a lot because they are the people who support you throughout the whole journey, not only during the successful moments. I’m very grateful for that.

And yes, this summer they will be in Paris again. Some family friends will also come so it will be a really nice group around me. I’m very happy and excited that they’ll be there supporting me once more.

Did you have much chance to experience Paris as a city in 2024? Any particular places/scenes that resonated strongly? What will be on your city wishlist this summer?

Yes, I had a little bit of time to experience the city after my races. But to be honest, I had already been to Paris several times before the Olympic Games, also on vacation, so I already knew the city quite well.

I really love Paris – it’s an amazing city and it’s always nice to go back there.

I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to visit this summer because of the competition schedule, but there are always some places I enjoy going back to.

I like walking on the Champs-Élysées, seeing the Eiffel Tower, visiting the Louvre, and spending some time around Montmartre as well.

Swimming at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 will take place in the Olympic Aquatics Centre from August 10 to 16.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics