GEORGIA Welsh is no ordinary 14-year-old kid.
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The teenager from Calivil is turning heads with her incredible feats of fitness and strength.
At an IKMF super marathon event in Bendigo last month, Welsh set a new junior (under-15) two-hour kettlebell world record.
Welsh, who trains twice and sometimes three times a week under Bendigo coach Don Grant at Rock Hard Training and Kettlebells, competed in the plus-45kg division, performed 1632 repetitons, using the one-arm long-cycle technique with an 8kg kettlebell.
As is generally the case in kettlebell sport, verification of new world records can take anywhere between a few days and a couple of weeks.
Welsh said she was at home getting ready for school when the official word came through.
“Don sent my mum a text that said they have decided to award Georgia a world record, so I was pretty thrilled,” she said.
“I sort of did a happy dance – mum caught me doing it, but I was pretty excited.
“My friends find it pretty cool that I might end up in the Guinness Book of World Records.”
For Welsh, the world record was only the latest in an impressive string of achievements on the kettlebells.
In August, she performed a super-impressive 113 repetitions in 10 minutes using a 16kg bell at the GSAA Nationals in Albury, and in April performed 247 lifts, again using a 16kg bell, in 30 minutes at an event in Bendigo.
Up next for the affable and courteous teen is a trip to Italy for the world championships in November, where she will revert back to a half-hour set using 16kg.
Welsh’s introduction to the sport came as an 11-year-old through her English teacher at East Loddon P-12 College, Hayley Lethlean, who was organising lunchtime classes for interested students.
That quickly led to her joining her teacher and a rapidly growing band of enthusiasts training under Grant at his East Bendigo gym.
Welsh, who is also an accomplished goal shooter with Mitiamo’s 15-and-under netball team and an occasional tennis player, proved a natural in the strength department and qualified for last year’s world championships in Denmark just months after taking up the sport.
Coach Grant said Georgia had come on “leaps and bounds” in her two years of training.
“Her secret is not much of a secret, she’s just very strong, very determined and very focused,” Grant said.
“Her commitment to training is just second to none.
“She started with us just before her 13th birthday - she just loves the kettlebells, is obviously getting stronger and more focused.”
Not even a recent injury, sustained at the Bendigo saleyards, figures to keep Welsh away from next month’s worlds.
“I know she’ll make all of us (at Rock Hard) really proud of her,” Grant said.
