An Eldersburg teen competed against about 800 Rubik’s Cube competitors and became the fastest solver in North America in one of the events.
Will Callan attended the national Rubik’s Cube competition earlier in August and qualified for 15 out of 18 of the competitions. In the 2-by-2-by-2 Rubik’s Cube event, Callan won first place by solving the cube in 1.23 seconds, beating the 1.31-second record.
“So, you do like five solves and when you’re between solves you can’t help but already start calculating your average. I started off pretty well on my first three solves, I had like two of the solves were really good and I was really happy with those," Callan said. "So, on the third one, I had gotten another really great solve, so at that point, I was really excited, but after my fourth solve, I had guaranteed my average would’ve been 1.32, which was going to be 0.01 seconds away from the current record, so I would have just missed it.
“On the fifth solve I just had to get an average solve but at that point, it was really stressful," Callan continued. “So, I ended up getting a solve that pushed it down a lot. So, it made it from 1.32 to 1.23, which broke the record by a decent amount and that was really exciting.”
Along with being the fastest in North America, Callan was also ranked the second-fastest in the world.
To prepare for each solve, the recent Century High School graduate sticks to a simple method of getting focused and deep breathing.
“I pretty much just make sure I’m looking at the box and I’m ready for the cube, take a few deep breaths and then I just say that I’m ready,” he said. “Sometimes, I mean, I don’t like to get too into any routines because depending on where you are, sometimes that can even make you more nervous.”
Callan, who has solved Rubik’s Cubes since 2012 when he was in the fifth grade, won a prize of $600, a trophy and a plaque. His plaque and trophy are proudly on display in his dorm room at University of Maryland, College Park, where he studies computer science.
So far, Callan hasn’t used too much of his prize money.
“It’s not like a huge amount of money, but I’ve gone out to eat a few times and things like that,” he said. “I mean, I’m also just kind of saving some of the money.”
Not only did Callan earn these prizes, but he also earned a sponsorship from the Cubicle, a cube-based puzzle company.
Callan said his family was there to support him and they were proud of his win.
“They were really excited. My grandparents were also there,” he said. “I think they were really excited to see me do well and just see me be happy with my results and everything. They were also there when I set the record and that was really exciting as well. I think they were really glad just to see everything finally pay off for me."
With his studies having recently started in College Park, Callan has found a way to create a balance between school and practicing his passion, alongside his roommate, a fellow Rubik’s Cube competitor.
“For the first week, I just kind of done it at night whenever we’re done all our work for that day,” Callan said. “We just kind of had everything managed. I’m not going to like procrastinate or anything. It’s one of those things where I can just have it at various times if I’m just kind of reading a book or anything, I can be fiddling with it and it’s not going to make much of a difference.”