Remember Flugtag? Of course you do. Well, that was nothing compared to the extreme sport that is about to make its Texas debut, when Red Bull brings its 2014 Cliff Diving World Series to Possum Kingdom Lake, about 140 miles west of Dallas, on June 7.
In this competition, the word’s best male and female high divers do their thing from around 90 feet up — the equivalent of an eight-story building and almost three times the Olympic height — with no machinery or protection. It’s just the cliff, the diver and the water below — and thousands of screaming fans.
There are four rounds and 15 cliff divers, including the USA’s David Colturi, Steven LoBue, Andy Jones, Cesilie Carlton, Ginger Leigh Huber and Rachelle Simpson. Five international judges award scores from 0 to 10 for each of the two required and two optional dives. Two diving icons and Olympic gold medalists, Greg Louganis (USA) and Dmitri Sautin (Russia), are part of the 15-person panel who judge takeoff, position in the air and water entry.
The world series kicks off May 10 in Cuba, at the Morro Castle fortress at the entrance of Havana Bay, before it comes to Texas. Two towering cliffs at Hell’s Gate mark the entrance to the cove where the divers will fly at Possum Kingdom Lake, which is the only U.S. stop on the tour and also the first non-urban cliff diving location in North America.
Here is the complete list of world tour stops:
- May 10: Havana, Cuba
- June 7: Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas
- June 29: Inis Mór, Ireland
- July 11: Kragero, Norway
- July 26: Azores, S. Miguel, Portugal
- August 30: Yalta, Ukraine
- September 20: Bilbao, Spain
- October 19: Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
There are no tickets for this event; spectators should plan to arrive and view the competition by boat, which can be procured from one of the many private boat rental services on Possum Kingdom Lake.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series is coming to Texas for the first time.
