Media Release - 18 March 2009 |
| For Immediate Release
World Team Slated to Return to Thailand to Set New World Records Bangkok, Thailand (18 March 2009) – The World Team Organizing Committee is pleased to announce its close collaboration with the Royal Thai Air Force to conduct an ambitious series of new skydiving world record attempts in the Kingdom of Thailand. This project, known as the Royal Sky Celebration, is being conducted to commemorate the “7th Cycle” 84th birthday of Thailand’s King Bhumipol Adulyadej. The plans for the Royal Sky Celebration include three world class skydiving events staged over an 18-month period leading up to HM King Bhumipol’s birthday in December 2011: January 2010: 200+ big-way Sequential Freefall Formation: Guinness
Book World Record In the Buddhist culture, with its 12-year calendar cycles, every 12th anniversary is a very auspicious occasion. World Team’s Larry Henderson explains that, “His Majesty King Bhumipol is the world’s longest reigning monarch and is greatly revered by the Thai people. Throughout 2011, the whole Kingdom of Thailand will be celebrating his birthday in many special ways. World Team is honored that the Royal Sky Celebration will be one of the principal 7th Cycle tributes to honor His Majesty.” Collectively, World Team is the largest international team of athletes ever assembled to pursue a common goal. With its highly skilled skydivers from 40+ nations, World Team has been actively conducting skydiving world records since 1994. World Team and the Royal Thai Air Force have a very successful track record of setting skydiving world records to honor members of the Thai Royal Family, including the current 400-way Largest Freefall Formation and the 960-way Largest Mass Freefall, both conducted in 2006 to celebrate His Majesty’s 60th anniversary of ascending to the throne. The skydiving activities of the Royal Sky Celebration will be led by a highly experienced international cadre of big-way skydiving organizers and competition team captains, most of whom are veterans from previous World Team projects. Team members for each of these new events will be selected via a comprehensive world-wide evaluation process directed by World Team’s Kate Cooper-Jensen, in collaboration with the World Team sector captains. World Team Dive Director BJ Worth expresses both apprehension and optimism when describing the challenges for the Royal Sky Celebration. “The 400-way required us to push the envelope on many fronts, and these new world records will be exponentially more challenging. Fortunately, World Team is ready to push those envelopes to the max. In the past few years, the collective level of big-way expertise has advanced significantly around the globe. That fact, plus our expanded use of high-tech equipment and the steadfast commitment of the world’s top big-way skydivers will allow us a practical opportunity to raise the bar to a whole new level.” Additional information is available on the World Team website (www.theworldteam.com). Contact information: Kevin Gibson |