5 March 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Simply beating a Rubik’s cube is a feat. Saturday, dozens of people took it a step further and raced the clock to do so.
“This is an official speedcubing competition with the World Cube Association. Records here can be recognized and will be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records,” said World Cube Association Kansas delegate, Dan Smith.
65 competitors competed in seven different rounds. The competitions varied from regular Rubik’s cubes to more complex ones.
“It is competitive. There is a little bit of money to be made and there are people who get championships, but it is super fun,” Smith said.
There is a wide range of competitors.
“I’m a grandfather, I compete. I compete with eight-year-olds, 10-year-olds, there’s girls, there’s boys and men, women, aunts, and uncles. We also have folks in wheelchairs. We have a lot of special needs folks,” Smith explained.
Lydia Workman was one of the competitors. She got into speed cubing about four years ago.
“My sister actually had a puzzle Rubik’s cube for me to solve. So I just went on youtube and learned how to solve it,” she said.
Workman said it’s about more than competing, “There’s a lot of good community based around cubing. We’re competitive but at the end of the day, we’re all friends. So I’d say that shows a lot of what we do.”
An inclusive community for anyone.
“It’s just learning. If you’d like to learn it’s a good thing to learn,” said competitor Christian Maiden.
Smith said they have about three to four competitions in the Wichita region a year.