WHEN Christian Swartz was five years old, it took him just over two months to solve the Rubik's Cube. Today, the nine year old of Essenwood is taking the cubing world by storm and taking top honour.
Christian, a Grade 3 pupil at Penzance Primary School, has the fastest times solving a 2x2x2 dimension Rubik's Cube in a single and average try in KwaZulu-Natal.
He has the second fastest time in South Africa behind Daniel Rush, and is the fourth fastest in Africa.
His mother, Chantelle Swartz, said: “His grandfather bought him the cube in February 2021 during the Covid-19 lockdown. He used to watch YouTube videos with his dad about solving the Rubik's Cube and he then went on to watch Max Park, a famous cuber, who hosts the Netflix documentary The Speed Cubers.
“Christian accepted solving the cube as a challenge. By April that year, he was able to solve the Rubik's Cube. He was 5 years and 10 months old at the time. My son always had a brilliant memory, so he used that to learn different methods to get better."
Swartz said Christian's first competition was on December 4, 2021, where he made it to the finals.
“We initially wanted him to be in the competition to get familiar with other cubers as there are not many in KwaZulu-Natal. There are no age categories in cubing and Christian was the youngest in that competition."
In total, Christian participated in seven official competitions and two unofficial competitions. An unofficial competition is whereby no world cubic associate is present.
His most recent competition was hosted by CubingZA in Cape Town from September 21 to 24, in which he performed well.
“My husband Shannon, younger daughter Sienne, and I accompanied Christian to Cape Town. There were also participants from other countries, including Madagascar and Finland. He did really well.
"Both my husband and Christian were checking daily if Christian's ranks had improved after the competition. On Tuesday, the ranks were updated and Christian went from second in KZN for the 2x2x2 to first."
She said the family was proud of Christian.
“To see a nine-year-old go up against many older people and do well is amazing. He is still just a child but he has shown so much of confidence. We couldn't be prouder.”
Christian said he enjoyed solving Rubik’s cubes because they kept him "from being bored".
"It also challenges my brain as I have to memorise a lot of algorithms (a sequence of moves that moves certain pieces to not affect others)."
He added: “I have 16 cubes consisting of two 2x2x2, six 3x3x3, one 4x4x4, one 5x5x5, one Pyraminx, two Skewbs, one Megaminx, one Clock and one square-1. I also have many others that I don't really use anymore. I have given these to my little sister."
His favourite cube at the moment is 5x5x5. It is the one he has improved on the most.
“I went from a 2 minute and 52 second average to a 1 minute and 35 second average. It also has the most algorithms out of any cube I've learnt. Making a new personal best is always so exciting, especially if it's a huge jump from my last best. It gives me motivation to practice.”
Aside from cubing, he enjoys swimming, video gaming, and Yo-yoing. Christian also loves cricket but said he only started recently, so he was not very good yet.
He wants to either be an astronomer, astronaut or a scientist when he is older.