Ponti Rips 21.51 50 Fly CR, Grousset Joins Sub-22 Club With French Record In SC Euros Semis

2025 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 2-7, 2025
• Prelims at 10am local (4am ET)/Finals at 7pm local (1pm ET)
• Lublin, Poland
• SCM (25 meters)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Livestream
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1
  • Finals: Day 1

World record holder and reigning world champion Noe Ponti led a record charge in the semis men’s 50 fly on Day 1 of the European Short Course Championships in Lublin, delivering one of the fastest swims in history to lead the field into the final.

Ponti, 24, fired off a time of 21.51 in the second semi, slashing more than two-tenths off the SC European Championship Record of 21.75, set by Hungarian Szebasztian Szabo in 2021. Szabo, 29, was also in the field, qualifying for the final in 4th (22.21).

The swim for Ponti marks the fourth-fastest of all-time, only trailing three of his own swims from 2024.

The defending champion now owns eight of the 11 fastest swims in history.

All-Time Performances, Men’s 50 Butterfly (SCM)

1. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.32 – 2024 SC World Championships
2. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.43 – 2024 SC World Championships
3. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.50 – 2024 World Cup – Singapore
4. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.51 – 2025 SC European Championships
5. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.53 – 2024 SC World Championships
6. Nyls Korstanje (NED), 21.62 – 2024 SC World Championships
7. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.64 – 2024 World Cup – Singapore
8. Noe Ponti (SUI) / Ilya Kharun (CAN), 21.67 – 2024 World Cup – Shanghai / 2024 SC World Championships
9. –
10. Nyls Korstanje (NED) / Ilya Kharun (CAN), 21.68 – 2024 SC World Championships / 2024 World Cup – Shanghai

Advancing 2nd into the final was Frenchman Maxime Grousset, who became the 16th man to break the 22-second barrier in the event in 21.95, lowering his French Record of 22.06 set at the 2023 SC Euros while moving into a tie for 11th all-time.

All-Time Performers, Men’s 50 Butterfly (SCM)

1. Noe Ponti (SUI), 21.32 – 2024 SC World Championships
2. Nyls Korstanje (NED), 21.62 – 2024 SC World Championships
3. Ilya Kharun (CAN), 21.67 – 2024 SC World Championships
4. Egor Kornev (RUS), 21.73 – 2025 Russian Championships
5. Szebasztian Szabo (HUN) / Nicholas Santos (BRA), 21.75 – 2021 European SC Championships / 2017 World Cup – Budapest
6. –
7. Steffen Deibler (GER), 21.80 – 2009 World Cup – Berlin
8. Roland Schoeman (RSA), 21.87 – 2009 World Cup – Berlin
9. Josh Liendo (CAN), 21.91 – 2025 World Cup – Toronto
10. Tzen Wei Teong (SGP), 21.93 – 2025 World Cup – Toronto
11. Chad le Clos (RSA) / Maxime Grousset (FRA), 21.95 – 2014 SC World Championships / 2025 European SC Championships

Also setting National Records in the race were Estonian Daniel Zaitsev and Czech native Daniel Gracik, who advanced 3rd and 6th into the final, respectively.

Zaitsev clocked 22.06 to lower his previous Estonian Record of 22.15, set at the 2022 SC World Championships.

Gracik put up a time of 22.38 in the semis to knock a tenth off the Czech Record of 22.48 he established back in October.

Men’s 50 Butterfly – Finals Qualifiers

1. Noe Ponti (SUI) – 21.51 *CR*
2. Maxime Grousset (FRA) – 21.95
3. Daniel Zaitsev (EST) – 22.06
4. Szebasztian Szabo (HUN) – 22.21
5. Denis Popescu (ROU) – 22.26
6. Daniel Gracik (CZE) – 22.36
7. Simone Stefani (ITA) – 22.42
8. Michele Busa (ITA) – 22.56

In the prelims, Denis Popescu set a new Romanian Record of 22.19, smashing his previous mark of 22.87 set in October. He went on to advance 5th into the final in 22.26.