September 22, 2025
By No Limits Tour ('NLT')
All-new athlete-owned No Limits Tour (NLT) Cliff Diving Championship is set to launch on October 4, at Hell’s Gate, Texas, with a global schedule to follow in 2026.
Co-founded by two-time U.S. national diving champion, David Colturi, the world’s best technical and freestyle cliff divers will become co-owners of the new competition.
Institutional and individual investor funding secured to back the founders' goal to create a sustainable professional tour and bring cliff diving to the Olympic Games.
[London, UK, and Texas, U.S. - October 2, 2025] The No Limits Tour ('NLT') Cliff Diving Championship, a brand new, athlete-owned professional cliff diving series will launch its inaugural season on October 4 at Hell’s Gate in Texas with the aim to become the world’s most viral extreme sport.
Built on a vision to elevate cliff diving to new heights, with long-term goals to bring the sport to the Olympic Games and redefine cliff diving for the next generation of athletes and fans, the Hell’s Gate event in Texas comes ahead of a full global schedule in 2026.
Co-founded by two-time US national diving champion David Colturi and former professional junior alpine skier and entrepreneur Raphael Eder, the NLT Cliff Diving Championship is seeking to elevate extreme sports with an athlete-owned, content-first approach. Investors include Michele Attisani, co-founder and former chief business officer of esports company ESL FACEIT Group.
Some the world’s best technical and freestyle cliff divers - including Carlos Gimeno, Xantheia, Pennisi, Ginni van Katwijk, Madeleine Bayon, and Kaylea Arnett - will compete in Texas this weekend and have committed to the Championship for which they will become co-owners.
The Championship will see men and women perform a series of 27 metres (90ft) dives at every event to earn championship points and prize money. At the end of the season, the divers with the most points will be crowned the women's and men's NLT Cliff Diving Champions.
The Hell’s Gate debut is being supported by a range of commercial partners that include the Lush Resort on Possum Kingdom Lake, Action Watersports, Athletic Brewing Company, New Motion Beverages, Embolden Beer Company, and premium Hawaiian volcanic water brand, Waiakea.
The inaugural one-day event is a precursor to three more events in 2026 that will round out Season One of the Championship. The global series will feature breathtaking dives set against iconic natural and city backdrops.
NLT Cliff Diving Championship co-founders Raphael Eder (left) and David Colturi (right). (Image credit: NLT Cliff Diving Championships)
"We are incredibly excited to formally unveil the NLT Cliff Diving Championship," said co-founder, David Colturi. "Our goal is to create a competition that is truly by athletes, for athletes, and that captivates a new generation of sports fans. We believe in championing every stage of an athlete's journey, and our co-ownership model ensures that the athletes have a direct stake in the success and future of the sport."
"The NLT Cliff Diving Championship is set to transform extreme sports by offering fans an immersive experience, bringing them closer to the sport, its athletes, and partners," comments co-founder Raphael Eder. "This will be achieved through an athlete-centric content strategy, underpinned by dynamic on and off-water entertainment and memorable brand activation opportunities."
“Cliff diving has an established global audience with hundreds of thousands attending events each year and content that generates one billion social media views, annually. The NLT Cliff Diving Championship will operate a sustainable model focused on maximizing digital reach and providing exceptional hospitality and sponsorship activation opportunities for brands looking to connect with a broad audience of young and gender-diverse fans.”
Professional cliff diving is an elite extreme sport and the ultimate display of focus and skill. Launching from heights of up to 27 metres (90ft) and travelling at speeds up to 85 kilometres per hour, each diver is judged by a panel according to the difficulty, artistry and technique.
The NLT Cliff Diving Championship will adopt an athlete ownership model that will see a portion of the net profits controlled by an elected Athlete Board ensuring athletes have a voice in the sport's direction and allocation of finances.
The championship will also establish a clear career path from junior to professional cliff diver through sanctioned tours like the NLT Cliff Diving Championship Tour (2025), Challenger Tour (2028), Qualifier (2030), and Junior (2031).
The founders and athlete-owners of the NLT Cliff Diving Championship Tour have stated a desire for cliff diving to become recognised as an Olympic sport. Diving was first introduced at the Summer Olympic Games at the 1904 Games of St. Louis from heights of three and 10 metres and has been an Olympic sport ever since.
For more information on the NLT Cliff Diving Championship, please visit nolimitstour.com.
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