Germany’s Tom Kopke has shattered a Guinness World Record for solving a Rubik’s Cube during a skydive in Mossel Bay, completing the feat in 23.333 seconds.
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This beats the previous benchmark of 28.250 seconds set by Australian Sam Sieracki in 2023.
The world record for solving a Rubik’s Cube on solid ground is 2.76 seconds, a milestone achieved by Teodor Zajder of Poland this year.
For Tom, the journey to his own record began long before he ever jumped out of a plane.
“I first solved the Rubik’s Cube when I was 18 and practised a lot back then. I even made a video attempting some crazy Rubik’s Cube challenges, where I said that one day I would solve it while skydiving,” he says.
“At the time, I didn’t have the money or the time to get my skydiving licence, so I never followed through. For that [earlier] video, I did manage to solve six Rubik’s Cubes underwater and tied the Guinness World Records title, and I also learned how to solve the cube blindfolded.”
The 23-year-old medical student set the record in February while skydiving at 160km/h.
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“I always wanted to learn skydiving because I have a lot more crazy skydiving videos planned, and I thought it would be really cool to start this journey with a clear goal in mind, which was to break the record.”
Finding the right approach to the attempt took considerable thought and experimentation.
“At first, I tried solving it belly-down in the arch position, which is how the previous record holder, Sam Sieracki, solved it. But I quickly realised this was way too difficult because the wind resistance is very strong and you can’t solve it efficiently.
“That’s when my instructor, Arnold van Dyk, had the idea that I should try solving it while back-flying. That is obviously way scarier because you can’t see the ground coming closer, and it also takes a lot more practice. But it reduces wind resistance significantly.”
He found that by spending lots of time practising with his instructor, he was able to perfect the method.
Tom is now looking into what other world records he can break or set.
“For now I think it’s cool to give someone else the chance to beat it before maybe going for it again.”
SOURCES: GUINNESSWORLDRECORDS.COM, UPI.COM, TOOLEKO
