5 events to watch at FINA World Championships

Last year it was the Expo, but in 2011 Shanghai is going all-out to host the 14th FINA World Championships, which will open on July 16 at Shanghai’s Oriental Sports Center.

More than 180 countries and regions will compete for 66 gold medals in five categories: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo and open-water sports.

Dive into one of these five contests -- handpicked by Shanghai Sports Institution’s lecturer Pan Liju -- to get your feet wet for the two-week long competition.

5. Duo free routine final, synchronized swimming

Time: July 22, 7 p.m.
Venue: Sea Crown Indoor Arena (海上王冠体育馆)

With competitive pairs like Igor Ishchenko and Svetlana Romashina from Russia, and Chloe Isaac and Marie-Pier Boudreau-Gagnon from Canada, Shanghai's FINA World Championships offers a star-studded lineup for synchronized swimming.

Jiang Wenwen (蒋文文) and Jiang Tingting (蒋婷婷) are China's synchronized swimming front-runners.

The twins claimed the title in the Synchronized Swimming World Cup last year, and now they are forecast to blow the world away with a revised edition of their gold medal-winning routine “The Spirit of the Peacock.”

Pan Lijun says the Jiang sisters’ new version is more beautiful then ever before.

“More difficult sequences and poses have been added to the new version, making it even more competitive,” Pan says.

While most women like to lose weight, the twin sisters have to pile on the pounds to show off their strength. This has been a major headache for the twins' coach, Masayo Imura, as it seems to be mission impossible getting these ladies to bulk up. 

More on CNNGo: Swimming with sharks in Shanghai

4. Men’s 400-meter freestyle final, swimming

Time: July 24, around 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Sea Crown Indoor Arena

While most major aquatics competitions prefer short-distance events to kick off the swimming section, Shanghai FINA World Championships has gone creative and chosen a mid-distance race instead.

The first gold medal swimming event comes from the Men’s 400-meter freestyle final held on the evening of July 24.

The competition between Chinese swimmers Zhang Lin (张琳) and Sun Yang (孙杨) against Korea’s “Marine Boy” Park Tae-Hwan is the main draw.

“These three are well-matched in strength,” Pan says.

“But since FINA officially banned the use of 'sharkskin' [swimsuits] last year, the competition is purely based on 'human skin,' which means strength, speed and techniques do matter a lot.”

More on CNNGo: China's top 10 athletes to watch

3. Men and women’s 200-meter butterfly final, swimming

Time: July 27, 6 p.m. (men’s); July 28, 6 p.m. (women’s)
Venue: Sea Crown Indoor Arena

The face-off between China’s “Butterfly King” Wu Peng (吴鹏) and “The Baltimore Bullet” Michael Phelps has garnered a lot of attention for the men’s 200-meter butterfly.

Wu has beaten Phelps twice out of the three matches they signed up for this year. This has also put an end to Phelps’ record of consecutive wins over nine years.

Out of all the swimming competitions, China is most confident about the the women’s 200-meter butterfly. Beijing Olympic gold medalists Liu Zige (刘子歌) and Jiao Liuyang (焦刘洋) are seen as doubly secure to win gold for China.

Liu and Jiao’s biggest opponents are Jemma Lowe from Britain and Australian veteran Jessicah Schipper. The 24-year-old Schipper narrowly beat Liu Zige in the 2009 World Championships in Rome.

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2. Men’s single 10-meter platform final, diving

Time: July 24, around 6:30 p.m.
Venue: Moon Bay Outdoor Diving Pool (月亮湾室外跳水池)

Although dubbed the “dream team of diving” by sports fans, the Chinese national diving team has failed to win a single world-class gold medal in the men’s single 10-meter platform for four years, due to ever-growing competition.

Gold medal-wannabe divers, such as Gleb Galperin from Russia, Tom Daley from United Kingdom and Sascha Klein from Germany, have all signed up for the Shanghai FINA World Championships, making the men’s single 10-meter platform the most competitive event in the diving section.

But don't focus all your attention on the big-name divers, there are plenty of other fish in the sea: 18-year-old Chinese diver Qiu Bo (邱波) has been pointed out by Pan as the dark horse.

“Qiu Bo is in good form," Pan says. "Earlier this year, he broke world records in two consecutive world-class competitions.” 

More on CNNGo: End of Yao wows hometown

1. Women’s water polo: China versus Italy, water polo

Time: July 21, 5 p. m.
Venue: Magnolia Bridge Swimming Stadium (玉兰桥游泳馆)

For anyone who enjoys competitive team sports, water polo is the one to watch.

Out of all the qualifying matches, China versus Italy likely to attract the most eyeballs.

China is betting on this match against longtime foe and Athens Olympic Champions Italy to qualify from Group D, against Cuba and South Africa.

According to Pan Lijun, China’s women's water polo team is the most promising team to snatch a medal for China in open-water sports during the championships.

This is also a golden opportunity for the team to make history – by standing on the podium of the World Championships for the first time.

More on CNNGo: The godfather of Chinese water polo looks to the future