Meet the Chennai children who travelled to London and returned with six Guinness records, including 190 hoop rotations in one minute and a 15-minute challenge performed in the splits

A group of young hula-hoopers from Chennai has taken its talent to the global stage, travelling to London to attempt 10 Guinness World Records titles and returning with six new records. The children, members of the Chennai Hoopers academy, demonstrated their skills at the Guinness World Records headquarters in London, UK, on July 20, performing before official adjudicator Caitlin Hyem.Their achievements included spinning a hula hoop around the neck while holding the splits for more than 15 minutes, completing 190 hoop rotations with their foot while in a bridge position, and performing elbow passes while wearing inline skates. The attempts combined hula-hooping, gymnastics, balance and coordination, showing how much practice and control these unusual skills require.The academy was founded by Vijayalakshmi Saravana, who said the experience gave the children an opportunity to showcase their abilities before the official Guinness World Records team. She added that participating in the adjudications boosted their confidence and helped them understand the dedication, discipline and precision needed to achieve a world record.

Janani and Vaishnavi achieve extraordinary hula-hooping feats

Among the record-breaking performers was Janani R S from India, who spent ’15 minutes and 14.56 seconds spinning a hula hoop around her neck while sitting in the cross-splits position’. She became the first person to hold the record for the longest duration of hula-hooping with the neck while sitting in cross splits in the female category. Janani also secured another title by completing 10 spider cartwheels in 30 seconds. The move involves kneeling on the ground, placing the hands beside the body, arching backwards and rotating sideways before landing back on the knees. Performing the movement repeatedly requires flexibility, coordination and control.Vaishnavi Shree R from India also returned with two Guinness World Records certificates. She completed ‘190 hula hoop rotations on her foot while holding a pelvic bridge position in one minute’. The position involves lying on the back, bending the knees, keeping the feet on the floor and lifting the hips. Vaishnavi then achieved 34 elbow passes with a hula hoop while wearing inline skates in one minute. For this challenge, she had to pass the hoop around her body using only her elbows while maintaining her balance on the skates. These achievements required the young performers to combine different skills rather than simply spin a hoop around their waists.

Dhanvetha and siblings Mamathi and Bhairav take on challenges

Dhanvetha Praveen Kumar, who travelled from the UK, claimed the record for the most hula hoop rotations while standing on one leg in 30 seconds in the under-16 category. She completed 74 rotations around her torso while keeping one foot raised. That works out to nearly two-and-a-half rotations every second. The event also featured a sibling duo. Mamathi Vinoth, from Canada, teamed up with her younger brother Bhairav, from the USA, to attempt the most times to throw and go through a backspinning hula hoop in 30 seconds as a team of two.The pair equalled the existing mark of eight, originally set by K Gokulnath and his four-year-old son Vedathreyan. During the challenge, Mamathi rolled the hoop about two metres ahead of her, allowing Bhairav to run through it before it travelled back to her. The record has since been surpassed by David Rush and his three-year-old daughter Felicity, who achieved nine. The siblings also attempted individual challenges. Bhairav aimed to beat the record of 27 one-handed cartwheels in 30 seconds but managed 22. Mamathi came close to the record for the most hula hoop rotations around the waist in the bridge position in 30 seconds, finishing just two rotations short of the existing mark of 80.

Six records broken, but the near misses matter too

Not every attempt ended with a new title. Dhanvetha fell just three rotations short of the record for the most hula hoop rotations around one knee in 30 seconds, while Sivathmigaa B from India achieved 57 shoulder rotations in 30 seconds, short of the existing record of 62. Despite these near misses, the team’s efforts earned praise from adjudicator Caitlin Hyem. She said that considerable resilience and effort were required even to reach the stage of attempting a Guinness World Records title, adding that every member of the team should be proud of their hard work.The Chennai Hoopers were previously recognised as Young Achievers in ‘Guinness World Records 2025’. Their latest outing shows that success is not only about the number of records achieved. It is also about practising difficult skills, facing the pressure of an official attempt and continuing to work towards a goal, even when the result does not go as planned.