2011 World Aquatics Championships


The 14th FINA World Championships were held on 16–31 July 2011 in Shanghai, China at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. The 2011 World Championships featured five aquatics disciplines: swimming, water polo, diving, open water, and synchronized swimming. At this championships, synchronized swimmer Natalia Ishchenko, of Russia, was the most decorated competitor winning all six gold medals of her events, at solo, duet and team routines. These championships served as qualifying stages for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
FINA announced Shanghai as the host on 24 March 2007, over other finalist Doha, Qatar.

Schedule

July 201116
Sat		17
Sun		18
Mon		19
Tue		20
Wed		21
Thu		22
Fri		23
Sat		24
Sun		25
Mon		26
Tue		27
Wed		28
Thu		29
Fri		30
Sat		31
Sun		Gold
medals
Diving1122●111110
Open water swimming111227
Swimming4454556740
Synchronised swimming11111117
Water polo●●●●●●●●●●●●112
Total gold medals123423445454567766
Cumulative total13610121519232832374146525966

Medal table

Host Nation

Competition

Diving

The diving program consisted of 10 events. Diving was contested at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center from July 16–24. China came out on top in the gold medal count in the diving swimming competition with ten golds, winning all events.
On the first day of competition on July 16, host nation China won the first gold medal of the meet in the women's 3 m synchro springboard. The duo of Wu Minxia and He Zi had a score of 356.40 to win by more than 40 points ahead of Canadians Émilie Heymans and Jennifer Abel. On the second day of competition, the Chinese duo of Qiu Bo and Huo Liang won gold in the men's 10 m synchro platform with a score of 480.03. On the third day of competition, two finals were held. In the men's 1 m springboard, China continued its strong performance with a 1-2 finish, with Li Shixin winning the gold and He Min winning the silver. In the women's 10 m synchro platform, the Chinese duo of Wang Hao and Chen Ruolin won gold with a score of 362.58 points. On the fourth day of competition, two finals were held and China continued its dominance. In the women's 1 m springboard, China finished 1-2 with Shi Tingmao winning the gold and Wang Han taking the silver. In the men's 3 m synchro springboard, the Chinese duo of Qin Kai and Luo Yutong won the gold with a score of 463.98. On the fifth day of competition, China swept the women's 10 m platform, with Chen Ruolin winning the gold and Hu Yadan winning the silver. On the sixth day of competition, China won gold in the men's 3 m springboard. However, it was the first individual event in the diving competition in which China did not go 1-2, with Russian diver Ilya Zakharov taking the silver. On the seventh day of competition, China won gold in the women's 3 m springboard with Wu Minxia taking the gold and He Zi winning the silver. On the eight and last day of competition, China won gold in the men's 10 m platform. In winning this event, China won all the possible golds in the diving competition.

Open water swimming

The open water swimming competition featured 7 events. The open water swimming competition was contested at the Jinshan City Beach from July 19–23. Germany came out on top in the gold medal count in the open water swimming competition with one gold, two silvers, and one bronze.
On the first day of competition on July 19, British Keri-Anne Payne won the first gold of the open water competition in the women's 10 km. On the second day of competition, Greek Spyridon Gianniotis won the gold in the men's 10 km, finishing ahead of German Thomas Lurz. On the third day of competition, the American threesome of Andrew Gemmell, Ashley Twichell and Sean Ryan won gold in the 5 km team event in a tallied time of 57:00.6. On the fourth day of competition, two events were held, the women's and men's 5 km. In the women's 5 km, Swiss Swann Oberson won the gold in a time of 1:00:39.7. In the men's 5 km, German Thomas Lurz won gold in a time of 56:16.2. On the fifth and last day of competition, two events were held, the men's and women's 25 km. In the men's 25 km, Bulgarian Petar Stoychev won the gold in a time of 5:10:39.8. In the women's 25 km, Brazilian Ana Marcela Cunha won the gold in a time of 5:29:22.9. Four women and 10 men who started the 25 km competition did not complete the race because water temperatures reached what FINA says is an unsafe level for competition.

Swimming

The swimming competition featured races in a long course pool in 40 events. The events were held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center from July 24–31. The United States lead the gold medal count in the swimming competition with sixteen golds. Overall, the United States came out on top in the swimming competition with twenty-nine medals. A total of two world records were set during the swimming competition. Just two years ago, at the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, 43 world records were set. This is attributed to high-tech bodysuits being banned in January 2010.
American Ryan Lochte won the most gold medals among the male competitors with five and was named the best male swimmer of the championships. American Rebecca Soni won a total of three golds and one bronze medal and was named the best female swimmer of the championships. American Michael Phelps had the most overall medals in the competition with seven.

Day one

On the first day of competition on July 24, four finals were contested, the women's and men's 400 m freestyle and women's and men's 4×100 m freestyle relay. In the women's 400 m freestyle, Italian Federica Pellegrini successfully defended her 2009 crown and crushed the field to win gold in a time of 4:01.97, over two seconds ahead of British Rebecca Adlington. In the men's 400 m freestyle, Korean Park Tae-Hwan won the gold in a time of 3:42.04, over one second ahead of second-place finisher Chinese Sun Yang. After the 400 m freestyle event was the women's and men's 4×100 m freestyle relay. In the women's 4×100 m freestyle relay, the Dutch team of Inge Dekker, Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Marleen Veldhuis, and Femke Heemskerk finished ahead of the United States 3:33.96 to 3:34.47. Because of Heemskerk's 100 m split of 52.46, the Dutch were able to overcome the United States on the final leg. Next in the men's 4×100 m freestyle relay, the Australian team of James Magnussen, Matthew Targett, Matthew Abood, and Eamon Sullivan won the gold in a time of 3:11.00. Magnussen jolted the Australians ahead in the first leg with a split of 47.49. American Michael Phelps had the second-best start with a 48.08. After the race, Phelps said of Magnussen, "He's talented, he's young. I think it's going to make it exciting for the sport and add something else to that relay, that's for sure." No new world or competition records were set during day one.

Day two

On the second day of competition on July 25, four finals were contested, the women's 100 m butterfly, men's 50 m butterfly, women's 200 m individual medley, and the men's 100 m breaststroke. In the first final of day two, the women's 100 m butterfly, American Dana Vollmer won the gold after posting the top times in the heats and semifinals. Vollmer's winning time of 56.87 was slower than her semifinal time of 56.47 but was still good enough for gold. In the men's 50 m butterfly, Brazilian César Cielo, just recently cleared to compete after failing a drug test, won in a time of 23.10. Cielo was very emotional after the race and sobbed uncontrollably. After he said, "This gold medal has a different feel from the other ones. This one was the hardest of my life." In the women's 200 m individual medley, fifteen-year-old Chinese Ye Shiwen won the gold in a time of 2:08.90 to give host nation China its first gold in the swimming competition. At the 150 mark, Ye was in fifth place but covered the last 50 metres in 29.42 to surge ahead of American Ariana Kukors and Australian Alicia Coutts for the win. In the men's 100 m breaststroke Norwegian Alexander Dale Oen won the gold in a time of 58.71. After the race, he pointed to the Norwegian flag on his swimming cap in reference to the 2011 Norway attacks. No new world or competition records were set during day two.

Day three

On the third day of competition on July 26, five finals were contested, the men's 200 m freestyle, women's 100 m backstroke, women's 1500 m freestyle, men's 100 m backstroke, and the women's 100 m breaststroke. In the first final of day three, the men's 200 m freestyle, American Ryan Lochte won gold in a time of 1:44.44. Fellow American Michael Phelps won the silver with a time of 1:44.79, his second consecutive silver in the event at a World Aquatics Championships. In the women's 100 m backstroke, Chinese Zhao Jing won the gold in a time of 59.05, just 1/100 of a second ahead of Russian Anastasia Zuyeva. In the women's 1500 m freestyle, Dane Lotte Friis won the gold in 15:55.60, improving on her second-place finish in the event two year ago. In the men's 100 m backstroke, Frenchmen Camille Lacourt and Jérémy Stravius had matching times of 52.76 to win gold. In the women's 100 m breaststroke, American Rebecca Soni dominated the field to win in a time of 1:05.05, over a second ahead of second-place finisher Leisel Jones. No new world or competition records were set during day three.