Speed cubing legend Daryl Tan can solve them underwater, upside down and while running
Speed cubing extraordinaire Daryl Tan says he’s “proud” to have broken so many records with his super skills.
The 23-year-old can solve puzzle cubes while sprinting, juggling, hanging upside down, and even holding his breath underwater.
We’re not sure there’s any task the Singaporean couldn’t do while solving a puzzle cube.
He told us: “I’m very proud of myself and proud of all the effort I’ve put in.”
And rightly so!
He currently holds 11 titles with his super skills, most recently breaking the record for most 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cubes solved underwater (unsupported), a total of 14, on the set of our shiny floor TV show Lo Show dei Record in February 2024.
For this title, “unsupported” means that he had to retrieve all of the cubes himself and could not be passed them by others or assisted in any way.
But this was far from being Daryl’s first cubing session submerged under water.
Back on 18 April 2021, he broke a whopping six cubing records in a single day – four of them while holding his breath in an inflatable bath tub.
On that day, Daryl claimed records for:
- Most 2x2x2 rotating puzzle cubes solved underwater - 26
- Most rotating puzzle cubes (3x3x3) solved underwater - 16
- Most rotating puzzle cubes solved one-handed underwater – 8
- Most rotating puzzle tetrahedrons solved underwater – 15
Daryl said solving puzzle cubes under the water was one of the most complicated things he’s ever attempted.
He trained for seven months and bought an inflatable bath tub so he could practise holding his breath.
When he started, he could only hold his breath for one minute at a time, but after several months of training, he could do it long enough to solve 16 puzzle cubes.
Going from the water to hanging upside down, he also claimed:
- Fastest time to solve a 4×4×4 rotating puzzle cube upside down - 37.25 seconds
- Fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle cube one-handed whilst suspended upside down - 17.12 seconds
Daryl took on more challenges in 2023, kicking things off with an incredible feat – running 100 m in an enviable time while somehow solving a puzzle cube at the same time.
In just 13.61 seconds, he claimed the fastest 100 metres solving a 3x3x3 rotating puzzle cube.
He said it was particularly difficult to hold his hands and the cube still enough while running to be able to solve it.
The other records Daryl currently holds are:
- Fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle cube (3x3x3) under water - 9.29 seconds
- Fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle cube while controlling a table tennis (ping pong) ball - 15.84 seconds
- Fastest time to solve a 4x4x4 rotating puzzle cube whilst juggling - 1 min 31.35 sec
Is there anything he can’t do?
