Colwood teen Josiah Plett had a lot to celebrate on Saturday. Not only did he mark his 18th birthday, but he also unofficially broke the Guinness World Record for most Rubik鈥檚 cubes solved while hula hooping with more than 1000 solves in six hours.
Plett had planned to begin his attempt at 7 a.m. on Feb. 13 but due to some minor delays caused by the blanket of snow Greater Victoria received overnight, he had to call in a few favours.
He and his family managed to hitch a ride to Saanich in a truck that could navigate the slippery roads, explained mom Alvira Plett. They arrived at Pacific Christian School where Plett would be making the attempt and went live on his YouTube channel shortly after 8 a.m.
READ ALSO: Greater Victoria teen tackles 3 world records for solving Rubik鈥檚 cubes while hula hooping
Once his volunteer scrutineers and cube scramblers arrived, Plett got to work hooping and cubing in hopes of breaking the current record of 200 cubes solved in about one hour 鈥� armed with his eight RS3 M 2020 Rubik鈥檚 cubes which are 鈥渢he best speed cubes on the market.鈥�
In six hours and six minutes, he solved 1010 cubes 鈥� far surpassing the current record-holder鈥檚 total 鈥� before dropping the hula hoop.
After unofficially breaking the record, Plett was 鈥渇eeling really good.鈥�
In an interview with Black Press Media 鈥� conducted while he was still hula hooping and solving 鈥� Plett explained that it will take about two months for Guinness to provide him with the paperwork and make his record official.
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Despite a sore back and neck and waning energy, he hooped on after breaking the record. Plett鈥檚 plan was to continue solving for as long as he could to 鈥渁bsolutely crush鈥� the record in hopes of remaining undefeated. His goal was to reach 1800 solves in 12 hours 鈥� though he noted that stopping for a meal and a bathroom break was sounding pretty desirable by 11:30 a.m.
With one of three records unofficially broken, Plett was planning to return to the school on Feb. 14 to tackle the record for the fastest time to solve a Rubik鈥檚 cube while hula hooping which is currently 12.20 seconds. Then, on Feb. 20, he鈥檒l attempt to break the final record by hula hooping and solving Rubik鈥檚 cubes one-handed. The current record is 101 in about an hour so Plett is aiming to crush the record by going for 12 hours.
To watch Plett鈥檚 record attempts, watch the live stream on his YouTube channel.
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