Canada's Josh Liendo announced himself as the fastest 100m butterflyer in history, clocking 47.68 to break the world record at the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup and end defending world record holder Noè Ponti's pursuit of the Triple Crown.
Liendo, the 22-year-old who took silver in the event behind Caeleb Dressel at the 2024 Paris Olympics, set the new mark from lane four after building his race around an explosive underwater on the third length. He turned in 1:02.6 at the 25-metre mark and timed the wall on the way home with the kind of precision that has eluded most challengers to Ponti's previous 47.71 standard.
"Brilliant third length by Liendo underwater," the World Aquatics broadcast said in real time. "Liendo's got the lead now. Is he going to hang on to the wall? It looks like it. Liendo is trying to be the Crown Buster. Boom. He's done it for Canada. Liendo and a world record time. 47.68 for Josh Liendo."
The race had been billed as the moment Ponti would close out the Triple Crown — a World Cup-only bonus paid to swimmers who win the same event at all three legs of the circuit, with the bonus rising sharply if a world record is set in the process. Instead it was Liendo who walked away with the record, a six-figure performance bonus and a fresh argument for being the man to beat in the 100m fly heading into the long-course season.
Liendo's swim is the latest in a flurry of butterfly improvements over the last 12 months. The Canadian has been building toward the under-48 zone for two seasons, narrowing the gap to Ponti at successive World Aquatics Championships and World Cup stops. His Singapore result confirms what the splits already suggested: the underwater work and front-end speed were finally aligning at the same meet.
Ponti, whose own 100m fly world record was set at the same Singapore venue, took silver. The Swiss star will now have to wait for a separate attempt to land the Triple Crown bonus in another event. For Liendo and Canada, however, the result delivers a world record on a stage where the racing — and the dollars — were genuinely on the line.
