By Tate Papworth
fA Rubik’s cube can frustrate people for hours – yet for St Albans student Calven Lipec, it’s a 10-second problem.
Calven recently attended the Interschool Rubik’s Cube Competition, held as part of the Arnold Sports Festival at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.
He took out first place in the 3×3 and the 2×2 competition, averaging 11.28 seconds to solve the 3×3 cube and 3.5 seconds for the 2×2.
Calven said his success came as a bit of a surprise.
“I didn’t think I’d win it, but I thought I was in with a chance,” he said.
While he may look like a natural with the cube, Calven practices for an hour a day.
“I first picked up a cube when I found one lying around when we were moving house,” he said.
“I was bored, so I started to learn it. Ever since, I’ve wanted to become faster – to be the best in the world.
“My first solve took me 22 minutes, which I managed to cut down to a minute and now it takes me seconds.”
Calven’s main goal is to get his average solve time down to five seconds ahead of the world championships in July.
He said his school, Catholic Regional College St Albans, had played a major part in his journey.
“The school has been so supportive of me – they even started a cube club a few weeks back and we got about 20 people to our first meeting,” he said.
“I hope we can keep it going – it’s a lot of fun.”
