By Sports Reporter/Doha

The most successful Brazilian swimmer in history Cesar Cielo Filho will be heading to Doha for the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships, which is to be held at the Hamad Aquatic Centre on December 3-7.
Cielo Filho boasts three Olympic medals including Brazil’s only swimming gold, six individual World Championship gold medals and two long-course world records in the 100m and 50m freestyles.
The Brazilian will have stiff competition from Russia’s Vlad Morozov in the 50m freestyle; however, Morozov is the World Championship silver medallist in the event and is one of the best short course swimmers in history. The Russian will only swim the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle in Doha, leading many to believe he has a real chance at a World Record in the 50. Russia will be looking to better their nine medal tally of the 2012 World Championships in Istanbul where they finished fifth in the medals table as they prepare to send a 36-strong team to Doha, which also includes Evgeny Korotyshkin, Olympic medallist and double-world record holder in the 100m butterfly and 4x100m medley relay.
Further World Record holders set to compete in Doha include Italy’s Federica Pellegrini (200m Butterfly), Agnel Yannick of France (400m Freestyle), South Africa’s Roland Schoeman (50m Freestyle) and Sweden’s Malin Therese Alshammar (50m Butterfly) to name but a few.
Germany will be represented by 24 athletes as the country continues to make strides in short course swimming. Their best medal chances come in the form of Markus Deibler, who set a new German record of 1:52.38 in the 200m Individual Medley this season, and Sarah Kohler, the 20-year-old German champion in the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyles. Markus’ brother, Steffan Diebler could also provide a medal in the 50m butterfly.
Australia has confirmed that three rookies will join 11 members of Australia’s successful Commonwealth Games team and seven Olympians in a 20-strong Australian Swim Team for the event. Australian short course record holders Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm will be ones to watch in Doha, both having shown excellent form this season.
More than 1,100 athletes from 171 countries will take to the blocks at Hamad Aquatic Centre.
Doha has marked this year it’s year of swimming. As well as the upcoming FINA World Swimming Championships, the city has already successfully staged the first meet in the FINA Mastbank Swimming World Cup and is the first city to host a World Cup and a World Championships in the same year. It will also host the 3rd FINA Aquatics Conference (November 29 - December 1, 2014), which includes the FINA Swimming Coaches Golden Clinic and the FINA Extraordinary Congress.
The 12th FINA World Swimming Championships will be held over five days with morning heats starting at 9:30am and the fast-action finals taking place at 6pm. Fans can purchase their tickets at Virgin Megastores or online at tickets.virginmegastores.qa starting at QR10. Find out more at www.wscdoha2014.com and follow @FINA2014Doha on Twitter.