5 reasons to watch Red Bull Cliff Diving this year, starting in Texas
The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series starts its 10th season with the US stop at Possum Kingdom Lake, near Fort Worth. Watch live on Red Bull TV, but first find out here why you should tune in.
More divers are now competing at every round thanks to more permanent members of the tour and more wildcards, with 14 men and 10 women lining up, and what’s more they now all get through to the finals with no eliminations. Last season Jonathan Paredes snatched a dramatic overall title win by just 10 points from Gary Hunt in the very last round (which you can watch in the video below), while Rhiannan Iffland defended her title, but with much closer competition than the previous year as the full women’s series really kicked into gear – so the new format means more edge-of-the-platform tension is virtually guaranteed.
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Jonathan Paredes won Red Bull Cliff Diving 2017
Watch this video to find out how Jonathan Paredes won the 2017 edition of Red Bull Cliff Diving on the final day of competition in Chile.
Later on, having FINA also recognise the sport… that happened because of Red Bull Cliff Diving
Orlando Duque
Orlando Duque is synonymous with Red Bull Cliff Diving, so it seems odd to think he was on the brink of retiring a decade ago before the World Series came along and brought him to the attention of a whole new generation of fans.
“It came at the the moment I was planning my retirement and we were struggling to have more competitions happening and Red Bull finally decided to create a World Series for us. You know, that's what the sport deserved and just that start was a huge step,” he recently told RedBullCliffDiving.com. “Later on, having FINA also recognise the sport and including it in their calendar for aquatic sports – I think it's a big step and that happened because of Red Bull Cliff Diving. FINA finally realised that we were a professional group of athletes.”
So far Red Bull Cliff Diving has visited more than 30 locations. From bustling cities like Bilbao and Copenhagen, with purpose-built platforms, to rough ocean spots with craggy cliffs like the Azores, the range is stunning, not to mention historic places like the Stari Most bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the calendar in 2018 for a fourth consecutive year. The first event of 2018 in Texas is an enduring classic celebrating a fifth straight appearance on the tour.
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What to expect from the 2018 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series
Entering its 10th year, the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series is back with seven competitions in classic venues in 2018.
Watch a teaser clip in the player above for more idea of the treat in store at the US stop and see the gallery below for a selection of the best shots taken on location at the series’ other stops worldwide.
Most of us only put on a skimpy swimming costume at the local indoor pool or on a sun-kissed beach in summer, but not these guys. You only have to look at the pictures of the podium finishers in robes from Copenhagen in 2016 to see how cold the conditions were, or remember the water temperature in Lago Ranco, Chile, in 2017 (see below gallery to feel chilled to the bone).
Divers jump off a 27m platform and need to be ready (before most of us would’ve had to time even to think) to enter the water safely. Physical forces of nature mean hitting a surface from such a height is like landing on a large concrete slab.
After a dodgy meal, Jonathan Paredes actually threw up but then immediately won the Mostar event in 2016. That really is a sick move.
5. It’s a serious series with a seriously funny sense of humour
The divers are both rivals and friends, and they know how to have fun. From Blake Aldridge’s ‘budgy smuggler’ trunks to podium fun and games, it’s about much more than the furrowed frowns and deep hush before a dive.
