This past Saturday during Cubing in the Ville, a Rubik’s cube competition, competitor Luke Garrett tied a national record with a solve taking only 0.51 seconds. The competition was held at the University of Louisville ShelbyHurst Campus and was the first in Louisville since 2019, before the pandemic.

There were a total of 78 competitors that had the opportunity to participate in up to six events of their choosing. These events consisted of 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, One-Handed 3×3, Skewb and Pyramix. In the first round of an event, anyone in the competition could participate. After the first round, the competitors had to be in the top twelve to make it to the second round, which was typically the final. However, for the 3×3 cube, the top forty made it to the second round which was then reduced to the top twelve for the finals.

In the final round of 2×2, seven out of the twelve competitors solved the cube in under one second. However, the most impressive was Luke Garrett, who tied a North American record, with a solution that took a mere 0.51 seconds and only five moves. This was only 0.02 seconds off a world record.

“3×3 is my favorite event,” Garrett said before breaking the national record. “I’m doing pretty good in everything, nothing terrible yet.” 

He is ranked 11th in the world for 3×3 with a time of 4.28 seconds. He is also now ranked fourth in the world for 3×3 One-Handed and tied for second in the world for 2×2.

The organizer of Cubing in the Ville is Mallory Isador Van Gansbeke, a teenager from Louisville. “There weren’t any in the area and they need more,” Gansbeke said about why she organized the event. She also explained that in the future she would try to set up more competitions in the area.

People from all over the country came to the competition, and there was even a competitor from Canada. Anyone can participate in these competitions, no matter the experience level. The only requirement is registering on the World Cube Association website.

For most of the participants, being with other people who enjoy cubing and just having people to talk to about it was the best part. Garrett summed it up quite well by saying, “Seeing a lot of cubers, it’s just a lot of fun.”