Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series to Kick Off in the U.S. for First Time Ever

FT. WORTH, Texas, Feb. 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In what will be its eighth season, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series will once again feature some of the most visually stunning venues, exotic locales and historically prominent surroundings as it grows to nine stops for the men's division and seven stops for the women's division in 2016.

All airing on FS1, the graceful yet gravity-defying sport of cliff diving will hit new and proven ground in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East as the roster of male and female divers take their aerial battles to all corners of the globe with the goal of being crowned Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series Champions.

In what will be a fitting start to the season, the 2016 World Series will hold its first competition in the state where everything is bigger, Texas, at the ominous Hell's Gate in Possum Kingdom Lake June 3-4. For the third consecutive year, thousands of floating spectators will watch the world's most daring divers leap from one of two towering cliffs, which rise dramatically out of the lake. It will be here where Texas resident and two-time women's champion Rachelle "Rocco" Simpson will look to defend her title, while the U.K.'s Gary Hunt will try and continue his dominance as he's won five of the last six men's titles. A full length broadcast of the Texas stop premieres on FS1, Saturday, July 9 at 10 am ET/7 am PT.   For a full calendar of broadcast times, visit: www.foxsports.com/RedBullSports.

New to the series this year are stops in Shirahama, Japan, and Dubai, where the 2016 season will conclude in late October. But before the divers get to experience these new stops, these world-class athletes will launch themselves from heights of 90 feet (men) and 66 feet (women), reaching speeds of up to 55mph in the countries of Denmark, Portugal, France, Italy, Great Britain and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Platforms, which in the sport of cliff diving are nearly three times the height of the Olympic high dive, will be constructed in seemingly precarious positions including atop an opera house, volcanic rock, a historic bridge, and yes, natural cliffs like Hell's Gate.

Since 2009, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series has provided a platform for exhilarating action and dives of ever-growing complexity, featuring elite athletes as well as young up-and-coming talent while also introducing a Women's World Series in 2014. Nowhere else will you see gravity-defying freefalls punctuated by awe-inducing tricks. In 2016 the sport's best athletes will once again leap aesthetically from breath-taking heights with no protection, except their concentration, skill and physical control. This global series of competitions will stay true to its fundamentals: it's pure; it's fast and it's jaw-dropping.

For more information and updates visit http://www.redbullcliffdiving.com/texas  

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SOURCE Red Bull Media House

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