Updated on July 19, from July 18 after a further change in the programme:

Inclement weather has forced the open water events at the 13th World Championships in Italy to be postponed. New dates have now been set for all competitions and the venue for racing has changed. This from FINA today:

Rome (ITA), July 18, 2009 – On a meeting held today in Rome (ITA), the FINA Bureau decided to postpone the Open Water Swimming events on the programme of  the 13th FINA World Championships Rome 2009, due to the weather conditions in Ostia, the location for these competitions.

 According to this decision, the Open Water Swimming races will now take place according to the following programme: 

• July 21, 2009: 5km Women (11:00) and 5km Men (14:00) 
• July 23, 2009: 10km Women (08:30) and 10km Men (12:00) SEE BELOW
• July 25, 2009: 25km Men (08:30) and 25km Women (08:40)  

UPDATED JULY 19, confirming that no venue shift is envisaged:

• July 21, 2009 (Tuesday): 5km Women (09:00) and 5km Men (11:00) 
• July 22, 2009 (Wednesday): 10km Women (09:00) and 10km Men (13:00) 
• July 25, 2009 (Saturday): 25km Men (09:00) and 25km Women (09:10)