Hassocks baton twirler breaks record after training outside The Triangle in Burgess Hill during lockdown

Georgia Langston, 19, won four national titles at The British Baton Twirling Sports Association national championships, which was held at Crawley’s K2 in September.

At the same event she won the Champion of Champions in both Solo and Dance Twirl.

A month later Georgia won ten titles, including Champion of Champions for the third consecutive year, at the National Baton Twirling Association’s national championships in Torbay, Devon.

“I’m really proud of her,” said Georgia’s mum Dawn, who told the Middy that her daughter has put this achievement to the Guinness Book of Records and is awaiting their response.

Dawn said Georgia has been twirling since she was four years old and is committed to her sport.

Georgia is currently studying law at the University of Winchester but still trains in Basingstoke at the weekends.

“You definitely have to have a high level of commitment,” said Dawn, adding that twirling requires precise hand-eye coorination and involves a lot of technical dance work.

She said Georgia has sacrificed a lot of her social life to keep her skill and fitness levels high.

“Travelling to Basingstoke is much easier now she’s based in Winchester but it’s a huge commitment at weekends,” said Dawn.

“Most people her age are looking go out and socialise and she’s spending seven hours a day in the training hall.”

Georgia also trained throughout the various lockdowns last year, said Dawn.

“We trained in the road outside when it was dry and in the garage when it was wet,” she said, adding that Georgia trained on a large piece of lino too, setting this up in the car park of The Triangle, Burgess Hill.

In addition to this she took part in online training with some American coaches, as well as her own coach Danny Dawes.

Georgia wrapped up the 2021 season in November by wining all four of her twirling events at the Audrey O’Neill memorial cup at the K2.

She will be part of the England team for the 2022 European Championships in Italy next April where she will compete in six disciplines.

The 2022 season will also see Georgia compete internationally once more at the Twirl Mania International Championships at the Disney World of Sport in Florida.

She is also preparing for the postponed World Championships in Eindhoven, Holland, next July.

Dawn will be accompanying Georgia on all of these journeys and said she is looking forward to travelling again.

Georgia is used to twirling in other countries, said Dawn, because she competed at her first World Championships in Switzerland when she was 12.

She said Georgia loves the travelling because she gets to catch up with all the international friends she has made over the years.

Dawn, who used to compete and run her own team Topaz, is one of the twirling enthusiasts pushing for the sport to get Olympic status.

“The problem currently is that we have two governing bodies at world level,” she said.

“Before we went into lockdown we’d set up an umbrella organisation to cover that and we were planning to hold our first joint World Championships this year.”

Unfortunately the Covid pandemic postponed the event and it will now be held in Liverpool in 2023.

“Once we’ve done that then we can talk to the Olympic committee further,” said Dawn.

Georgia is always looking for sponsorship for her travel and costumes.

Anyone who would like to help can email [email protected].