Young hula hoopers travel from across the globe to set six world records at GWR HQ

The Chennai Hoopers rounded up another six GWR titles at Guinness World Records HQ in London, UK, on 20 July.

Since the hula-hooping academy was founded in 2018 by Vijayalakshmi Saravana, over 500 students have joined, gaining skills and in some instances, world records too!

Back in 2023, three members visited the office and set nine records in one day, including the most hops while spinning a hula hoop on the ankle in one minute (110, by Canada’s Mamathi Vinoth).

This resulted in them being awarded exclusive Young Achievers status in Guinness World Records 2025.

As for this year, six of the hoopers stepped up to attempt 10 titles in front of GWR Adjudicator Caitlin Hyem.

Vijayalakshmi Saravana told GWR: “All the children had an incredible experience participating in the adjudications in front of the Guinness World Records team.

“It was a unique opportunity for them to showcase their talents, perform under the direct observation of the official team and experience the excitement of the record verification process.

“The experience boosted their confidence and gave them a deeper understanding of the dedication, discipline and precision required to achieve a Guinness World Records title,” she added.

Janani R S (India) became the first person to claim the longest duration hula hooping with the neck while sitting in cross splits (female), with an impressive 15 min 14.56 sec.

For this to be a valid attempt, she had to complete a minimum of 15 min.

Janani also achieved the most spider cartwheels in 30 seconds: 10.

This movement involves kneeling on the ground, placing your hands down beside you and flipping over to make a backbend-like arch. To complete the move successfully, you must rotate sideways with control and land back on your knees.

Another record holder who took home two GWR certificates was Vaishnavi Shree R (India).

Combining hooping and yoga, she fulfilled the most hula hoop rotations on the foot while in the pelvic bridge position in one minute (female): 190.

The multi-talented youngster then completed the most elbow passes with a hula hoop while wearing inline skates in one minute (female): 34.

For this, Vaishnavi had to pass the hoop around her body using just her elbows while remaining balanced on her skates.

Up next was Dhanvetha Praveen Kumar (UK), who logged the most hula hoop rotations while standing on one leg in 30 seconds (Under 16s).

She recorded a total of 74, which equates to nearly two-and-a-half spins per second!

The number to beat was 57, which was set by Fatemah Dehghani Mohammad Abadi.

Read more stories about our amazing record holders in our Sports and Fitness section.

Mamathi Vinoth teamed up with her younger brother Bhairav (USA) to equal the most times to throw and go through a backspinning hula hoop in 30 seconds (team of two): eight.

The record had originally been set by K Gokulnath and his four-year-old son Vedathreyan from India.

This challenge required Mamathi to roll the hoop 2 m (6 ft 7 in) in front of her, where Bhairav would pass through it before it travelled back to her. 

This has since been beaten by serial record breaker David Rush and his three-year-old daughter Felicity, who achieved a total of nine.

Bhairav and Mamathi also attempted solo records: the most one-handed cartwheels in 30 seconds and the most hula hoop rotations around the waist in the bridge position in 30 seconds, respectively.

Bhairav had three attempts and his best result was 22, failing to surpass Dhayanithi Anandavelu’s mark of 27.

Similarly, Mamathi was just two off the record (80, by Anika Rajesh) on her third and final go.

The other two unsuccessful record attempts were also near misses.

Dhanvetha was only three points off claiming the most hula hoop rotations around one knee in 30 seconds (110, by S. Pragghnaya).

And Sivathmigaa B (India) was unable to take home the most hula hoop rotations around the shoulders in 30 seconds.

This record stands at 62 (by M S Rogith Mithran), and her best result was 57.

GWR Adjudicator Caitlin Hyem said: “A lot of resilience and effort is required just to get to the point of attempting a GWR title, so despite the fact that not all 10 records were broken, each of the Chennai Hoopers should be very proud of themselves for their hard work so far.”