Going Fast in Guildford 2024

Inside Guildford Town Hall, the quiet tension of competition day settled over the tables as solving mats lit up for a packed schedule of speedcubing. The historic hall in Perth, Western Australia, Australia hosted Going Fast in Guildford 2024 on April 13, 2024, gathering 75 competitors for a concentrated single-day meet. With five events and nine rounds scheduled, the day demanded rapid adjustments between puzzle styles. Every table rotation shifted the focus, but the spotlight steadily narrowed onto the decisive final rounds where the margins between victory and second place vanished.

The 4x4x4 Cube final turned into an absolute duel between Joshua Hounslow and Jonathan Charlesworth, stretching the outcome down to the final recorded attempts. Charlesworth applied relentless pressure across the round, registering an average of 32.64 seconds to set the bar near the top of the leaderboard. Hounslow matched the pace with exceptional precision, claiming the event title with a winning average of 32.41 seconds, separated by a fraction of a second. Tyler Williams completed the podium in third place with a 33.89 average, while Hounslow also secured the best single solve of the event at 29.28 seconds.

Jonathan Charlesworth responded with commanding authority in the standard Rubik's Cube final, leading the 3x3 results through three intense rounds of play. Across 73 competitors in the flagship category, Charlesworth maintained consistency to capture first place with a 7.90 winning average and the day's best single of 6.09 seconds. Hounslow took the runner-up position with an average of 8.31 seconds, while Jay Calter secured third place with an 8.83 average. The high standard of execution across the field underscored the depth present at this Western Australian cubing competition.

Charlesworth added two more gold medals to his tally in the specialty disciplines, demonstrating broad technical mastery across complex mechanisms. In Megaminx, he led a 40-competitor field by logging an average of 44.46 seconds along with the round's best single of 43.00 seconds, finishing ahead of James Holdsworth at 48.72 and Joshua Hounslow at 53.70. Switching to Square-1, Charlesworth captured his third victory of the day with a 12.30 winning average and a single of 9.97 seconds, holding off Tyler Williams with 12.81 and Ethan Caalim with 13.50.

The Pyraminx event produced its own tight contest over two rounds of play among 56 competitors, culminating in a win for Marco Campitelli. Campitelli delivered a 3.80 winning average and a top single of 3.05 seconds to secure the title. Joshua Hounslow finished closely behind in second position with a 3.95 average, while Jonathan Charlesworth earned his fifth podium of the meet by taking third place with an average of 4.00 seconds.

Away from the top steps of the podium, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across their individual schedules. Lachlan Manson recorded a personal best of 6.42 seconds in Pyraminx, marking a 55.6 percent improvement over his previous benchmark, while also trimming his 4x4x4 Cube personal best to 1:34.06. Arya Bhatelia lowered his Pyraminx mark by 53.1 percent to 5.99 seconds and earned a 33rd-place finish in Megaminx. Jay Wadia took on all five events, improving his Pyraminx single to 2.80 seconds by 48.2 percent, posting a 1:41.92 Megaminx personal best, and recording a first official Square-1 solve of 34.06 seconds. Jacob Drum set a Pyraminx personal best of 6.47 seconds, an improvement of 46.4 percent, alongside his first official 4x4x4 Cube attempt at 2:21.45.

That same drive was evident across multiple newcomers and developing entrants who expanded their official event lists. Emme Moretta shaved 35.6 percent off her 3x3x3 Cube mark to record an 18.98 personal best. Elliot Garvey contested five events, improving his Square-1 best by 32 percent to 32.10 seconds and his 4x4x4 Cube mark to 55.98 seconds. Flynn Creelman logged his first official Megaminx attempt at 1:29.64 to finish 14th, while cutting his Pyraminx best by 23.8 percent to 3.56 seconds. Oscar Lee tackled his first official runs in both Square-1 at 35.35 seconds and Pyraminx at 6.55 seconds, while improving his 3x3x3 Cube best to 14.09 seconds.

First-time entrants added valuable depth to the day, with Aarush Kumar Kuna, Tom Nguyen, Jack Whittle, and Abigail Evans all completing their first WCA competition appearances in Guildford. Every podium position across all five disciplines was claimed by Australian solvers, reflecting the strong state of speed cubing in the region. Going Fast in Guildford 2024 concluded having delivered exceptional head-to-head battles and numerous personal milestones, setting a high standard for the community as the local season moves forward.