HANGZHOU, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The 14th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) will open on Tuesday at the Hangzhou Olympic and International Expo Center.
The six-day short-course swimming worlds, which includes 34 individual events and 12 relays, runs from Dec. 11 to 16.
China is the biggest delegation in Hangzhou with 42 athletes. Wang Shun is ready to defend his 200m individual medley (IM) title which he won in Windsor worlds two years ago, while Windsor 2016 100m back bronze medallist Xu Jianyu will also be taking the plunge. Other Chinese bronze medallist from Windsor, Zhang Yufei, will defend her bronze medal in the 200m butterfly.
Olympic and world champion of South Africa, Chad Le Clos, will be defending his Windsor gold medals in all three butterfly events, while 50m free winner Jesse Puts of the Netherlands will also try and preserve his title.
In the women’s competition, Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu registered for her pet events, namely the three IM events (100m, 200m, 400m). Other strong contented for the IM medals is Australia’s Emily Seebhom. She recently achieved great results at the FINA Swimming World Cup 2018.
Short-course world champion Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherland is also present in Hangzhou to defend her title in the 50m free, as well as her silver medal in the 100m free.
World champion Federica Pellegrini of Italy is one of the favourites for the 200m freestyle as she won in Windsor.
China's swimming star Sun Yang will only take part in the relays.
