The twirling girls of Saint-Vivien
It was four years ago at the SAM Omnisports Club at Lesparre-Médoc that the baton twirling club first saw the light of day. Then, wishing to acquire more independence, Isabelle Jobic, the founder of the club, contacted the mairie of Saint-Vivien and with the agreement of the mayor, M Dubernet, she took over the gym that has an adequate ceiling height for the twirling batons. Once installed at St Vivien, Isabelle set up association known as the 'Twirling Club Unimog' which now assembles fourteen girls aged from 11 to 20 all from the Pointe de Médoc. Trained intensively for three years by Isabelle, and occasionally by other professionals, these girls now find themselves competing at national level, winning competitions and mounting the podium as individual, duo and team competitors.
For the uninitiated, twirling is a discipline forming part of "rhythmic gymnastics", formerly called GRS. Twirling is a complete sport in itself combining dance, flexibility, grace and address in baton handling. It can be practiced as individual, duo and team.
2018Dominique Rouyer (Saint-Vivien), translation: Christopher Murray