Warrender's Craig Hamilton insists the hard work starts now as he prepares to make his World Swimming Championship bow in Italy.

The 17-year-old was due to line up for the 10km open water event on Sunday but hazardous conditions in Ostia forced racing to be postponed.

Hamilton, who made his open water debut in Israel in May ? will finally get his chance to take to the water on Wednesday but is all too aware of the task in hand.

"It has been a new challenge doing the open water events but I have been enjoying it," said Hamilton.

"It is a hard event and Rome will be a big learning experience for me. It is great to be part of the team but I expect things to be tough.

"We are really targeting the open water event for the London 2012 Olympics and a lot of resources are being put in to make sure we do well."