Thomas Ceccon Rips 50.42 100 Fly Personal Best, Italian Record

2025 World Championships

• July 27 – August 3, 2025 (pool swimming)
• Singapore, Singapore
• World Aquatics Championships Arena
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• How To Watch
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5| Day 6
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6

Night six of the 2025 World Championships featured the men’s 100m butterfly semi-finals, which were a fast and furious battle to the wall in each of the two races.

When the dust settled, it was Olympic medalist and Swiss national record holder Noe Ponti who claimed the top seed in 50.18 followed by Canadian national record holder Josh Liendo who registered 50.24.

Frenchman Maxime Grousset, already the 50m fly champion here, produced 50.25 as the 3rd seed while Liendo’s teammate Ilya Kharun hit 50.39 for the 4th seed.

Further down the line was Thomas Ceccon of Italy, nailing a new lifetime best and national record of 50.42 to secure the 5th seed for tomorrow night’s main event.

Entering this competition, Ceccon’s career-swiftest performance rested at the 51.26 he logged just this past April at the Australian Open. Ceccon had spent a training stint in Australia this year when he became Italy’s #2 performer in history.

In Singapore, however, Ceccon ripped that previous PB to shreds en route to dipping under the 51-second barrier for his first time ever.

The previous Italian record stood at the 50.64 Piero Codia put on the books en route to becoming the 2018 European Championships gold medalist.

Comparing the splits among these swims, Ceccon was nearly half a second faster on the front half than his former PB, still saving some speed on the final lap to shave .22 off Codia’s former benchmark.

Ceccon, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the 100m backstroke, earned silver in that event here in Singapore. The 24-year-old also nabbed bronze in the 50m fly in a new Italian national record.

He was also a member of Italy’s silver medal-winning men’s 4x100m free relay to already have success at these championships.