North Highlands Summer 2025

Max Kwok U Sam delivered a standout display across the weekend in the far north, claiming victory in the main 3x3x3 Cube event with a decisive 8.46 winning average and a round-best single of 7.66. The performance set the tone for an action-packed weekend as the summer calendar hit its stride in Wick, Highland, United Kingdom. Hosted at Wick Youth Club across June 7 and June 8, the gathering welcomed 18 competitors ready to contest 11 events across 23 rounds. It was a crucial mid-season fixture that tested both sprinting speed and puzzle endurance across two intense days of solving.

The North Highlands Summer 2025 schedule gave multi-event specialists room to flourish. Max Kwok U Sam dominated the heavier rotation, securing top spots in 4x4x4 Cube with a 32.13 average, 5x5x5 Cube with a 54.68 mark, and 3x3x3 One-Handed with a 15.09 winning average. In the classic 4x4x4 Cube final, Billie Hammill of the United Kingdom secured second with 37.45 while Germany's Amélie Dieterich locked up third in 40.53. In one-handed solving, Hammill followed in second place at 17.76 and Konstantin Jaehne took third with 19.60.

Billie Hammill collected multiple titles across the shorter disciplines at North Highlands Summer 2025. Hammill topped the 2x2x2 Cube final with an average of 3.22, edging out Bella Campbell who posted a 3.37 average for second place, with Poland's Marcel Borkowski finishing third at 3.99. Hammill also claimed the Skewb title with a 5.70 average ahead of Dieterich and France's Nox Clémenceau, before adding the Square-1 victory with a 13.19 winning average ahead of Eleanor Sinnott's 14.54.

The side events at the cubing competition highlighted sharp versatility. Konstantin Jaehne earned victory in the Clock event with a 5.94 winning average and a 5.06 best single. Jaehne also triumphed in 3x3x3 Blindfolded, logging a winning average of 41.25 to lead Campbell and Borkowski on the podium. In Megaminx, Marcel Borkowski captured first place with an average of 47.30, while Sophia Schmoll secured the Pyraminx title with a 3.57 average, holding off Max Kwok U Sam by less than a tenth of a second.

Beyond the championship trophies, the heart of the speedcubing community showed across the entire running order. Levi James Brown completed seven disciplines, dropping a Skewb personal best of 7.99 that sliced 47.4 percent off his earlier mark, alongside a 17.7 percent drop to 3:07.57 in Megaminx and an 11 percent cut to 10.48 in Pyraminx, finishing 10th in Skewb. Adam Reid tackled five events, recording his first official attempts at Clock with 21.74 and 2x2x2 Cube with 12.32, while trimming his Skewb best by 32.2 percent down to 11.80. Jamie Sanham-Dow entered three events, posting first-ever official results of 12.31 in Skewb and 12.73 in 2x2x2 Cube, alongside a 30.96 3x3x3 Cube personal best that was 12.3 percent faster than before. Caty Langa took on nine events, finishing ninth in 4x4x4 Cube while cutting 36.6 percent from a previous Square-1 best with a new 29.39 time, plus a 17 percent improvement to 8.14 in Clock.

The weekend also marked memorable competitive benchmarks for several others who took to the tables. Joel Hamilton made their speed cubing debut at their first WCA competition, entering seven events, reaching sixth place in 2x2x2 Cube, and logging initial competition marks of 3.71 in 2x2x2 Cube, 50.28 in 4x4x4 Cube, and 3:21.14 in 3x3x3 Blindfolded. Catherine Harris also made her debut at her first WCA competition, successfully completing a 3x3x3 Cube single of 1:34.48. Kacper Borkowski entered five events, recording initial attempts of 7:56.28 in 3x3x3 Blindfolded for a ninth-place finish and 2:47.91 in Megaminx, while also setting a 16.81 personal best on the Rubik's Cube that was 11 percent faster than his past record. Ada Cooke undertook nine events and secured a weekend-best ninth-place finish in Megaminx.

The medal count reflected a vibrant international field across the two days of competition. Host nation competitors from the United Kingdom led the tally with 11 podium finishes, followed by Germany with eight, Macau with seven, Poland with six, and France with one. The variety of challenges from the 2x2x2 Cube through to blindfolded and multi-layered puzzles made full use of the summer schedule, providing valuable experience for newcomers and seasoned competitors alike.

As the season moves forward, the overall 3x3 results and multi-event marks from North Highlands Summer 2025 serve as a strong mid-year standard. The 2025 tournament in Wick showed how much can be packed into an 18-competitor field, combining intense finals with substantial personal breakthroughs across every round of the schedule.