Thomas Harold Ponting (born January 28, 1965 in Montréal, Quebec) is a former international butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 swimmer from Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting in 1984

Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics, held at the McDonald's Olympic Swim Stadium, located on the USC campus. There was a total of 494 participants from 67 countries competing.-Medal table:-Men's events:-Women's events:-References:...

 in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

. At every occasion he won a medal with the Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Team: two silver and one bronze.

At the Canadian Interuniversity Swimming Championships in 1989 Ponting broke the World and Canadian Records in 100m Butterfly/Papillon, with a time of 52.62. This record still stands as CIS record, and possibly Canadian record.

Ponting is the only swimmer in Canadian history to win three Olympic medals in three different Olympic Games (1992, 1988 and 1984).

World Record Short Course:

4 x 100 m Medley relay (1991)
4 x 100 m Medley relay (1992)

100 m Butterfly - 52.62 (1989)