Pinup Pellegrini leads European charge

ROME: Italian Federica Pellegrini has become the face of the Swimming World Championships after raising the sport's profile by spending almost as much time in the gossip pages as in the pool.

The 20-year-old heads to Rome, where the long course swimming begins on Sunday, as the host nation's main hope for gold following a string of controversies surrounding world records, costumes, boyfriends, sexy photos and body piercings.

She is considered the hot favorite for Tuesday's 200m freestyle final having won gold at last year's Beijing Olympics and bronze at the 2007 Worlds in Melbourne.