After just 4.33 seconds of manipulation – hands almost a blur and the object quickly clicking – the perfectly solved Rubik’s Cube hits the table, stopping the clock.
That lightning-fast time earned Elijah Phelps, ’29, then 15, a world record in the event known as Square-1, a shape-shifting version of the classic Rubik’s Cube.
Now a first-year student at St. Mike’s studying Digital Media and Communications, Phelps is sharing this hobby and passion with the entire Saint Michael’s College community by organizing the first-ever speed cubing competition on campus.
Elijah Phelps ’29 manipulates a Rubik’s Cube made for speedcubing competitions in November 2025. (Photo by Teddy Vretzakis ’29)
Phelps’ Rubik’s Cube journey started before titles and competitions were even a thought.
“I was about 11 years old when I learned how to do it,” Phelps said. “I just went to local Target, bought one off the shelf, and then went home and learned how to learn how to do it.”
For many, solving the cube is the end goal. But for Phelps, this awakened greater interest.
“I really wanted one of the nice speed cubes,” Phelps said. “My mom said that once I learned how to solve the one that she got me from Target, she would get me a speed cube.”
That determination, along with the promise from his mother, set Phelps on a track that would eventually lead him to become one of the fastest cubers in the world and a multi-state record holder.
In 2019, at age 12, Phelps competed in his first speedcubing competition at the Massachusetts state championship.
Speedcubing: From interest to passion
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Phelps’ new hobby turned into an obsession.
“I was also fully remote for all of eighth grade,” Phelps said. “I barely left my room, which was very isolating, but I needed something to do that was off a screen. I practiced for like, probably six hours a day during COVID. And I would just learn new algorithms and keep practicing.”
This quarantine dedication paid off as Phelps completed in his first speedcubing competition following the pandemic in early 2022.
“I went back to my first competition after the quarantine, and on my second solve of the day, I broke the state record, which was my goal going into it,” he said.
Elijah Phelps ’29 poses next to the timer clock at a competition he helped organize in Ashfield, Massachusetts, in August 2025. The solve’s time (3.20) is his personal record for the Rubik’s Clock event. (Photo courtesy of Elijah Phelps)
Almost a year after beating the Massachusetts state record for Square-1, Phelps shattered the world record for the same event by just one-hundredth of a second in November 2022.
“It was at the perfect time, the record was very beatable,” Phelps said. “It was the right time, right scramble. It had to be the perfect moment, and it was my perfect moment at that time.”
Phelps held the world record for Square-1 for two months and believes that with a lucky enough scramble, he could do it again. However, this is not where his attention lies now.
“I already had it, and I don’t want to put any unnecessary pressure on myself,” he said. “I already got the record. I have the Guinness [plaque] in my dorm. I’m set.”
More than just trophies
Elijah Phelps ’29 set a Guinness World Record for speedcubing in 2022. This record has since been broken. (Photo courtesy of Elijah Phelps)
For Phelps, cubing is about more than just competition – it’s about community.
“There are a lot of people who come to cubing competitions who really aren’t social in their personal lives,” Phelps said. “It’s really important to me that they have this outlet to come and not worry about anything.”
However, he added, “As I’m getting older, competitions for me are a weekend where I can forget about the exam I have coming up, or the project I have to work on, and I can just hang out with my friends and solve cubes and break records.”
This spirit of connection is what encouraged Phelps to organize the College’s first-ever speedcubing competition.
Spectators can expect old records to fall and be replaced, and Phelps hopes this competition has a lasting impact on viewers.
“I just want people to be amazed,” he said. “Even if one person goes back to their dorm and decides to learn how to solve a cube, that’s a win for me.”
Influenced by his own experience taking up cubing at 11 years old, Phelps strongly believes in the positive impact this hobby can have on younger generations.
“I hope that [the competition] inspires kids,” he said. “I hope that people, like families in Vermont, see that this competition is happening, or see something about it, even just a little bit, and maybe buy their kid a cube and bring them to a competition.”
Today, Phelps holds the New England record for Square-1, a title he has broken himself nearly a dozen times. He also holds the Massachusetts state record for pyraminx, a triangular-shaped Rubik’s Cube.
At the Nov. 8 competition on campus, Phelps hopes to break more of his own personal records and take on Vermont’s state record now that he is a resident.
“I just broke my own record, and I plan on continuing that,” he said. “I really want to push it a lot.”
The Saint Michael’s College Rubik’s Cube competition will be held on Nov. 8, starting at 8:30 a.m. in Eddie’s Lounge (2nd floor of Alliot Hall). More information about the competition and how to sign up can be found on the World Cube Association’s website.>>
For all press inquiries contact Elizabeth Murray, Associate Director of Communications at Saint Michael's College.
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