Solving by the Barrow 2025

Eighty-seven competitors gathered at the Athy Recreation and Community Hall on November 29 and 30, bringing high-stakes speedcubing action to County Kildare. Solving by the Barrow 2025 featured 11 events and 17 rounds of intense competition, with Irish and international solvers racing against the clock across two packed days. The gathering highlighted top-tier talent in both traditional and specialized disciplines, turning the Athy venue into a focal point of puzzle solving in Ireland for the 2025 season.

Stephanie Rose Martin established herself as the dominant force of the weekend, capturing two event victories and reaching the podium in four separate disciplines. Martin set the standard in the 4x4x4 Cube, posting a winning average of 28.24 seconds along with the best single of the event at 24.52. Ukraine's Maksym B. Tsymbaliuk finished runner-up with an average of 31.69, while Ireland's Elliott Laurent took third place with a 32.07 average across two competitive rounds.

Martin carried that momentum straight into the 3x3x3 One-Handed final, claiming her second gold of Solving by the Barrow 2025 with a decisive winning average of 11.80 seconds and a best single of 10.79. Onome Brownly-Otiede secured second place for Ireland with a 13.02 average, ahead of Ukraine's Nikita Grytsenko in third at 15.70. Martin added another silver to her tally in the 5x5x5 Cube, finishing runner-up with an average of 53.07 seconds behind Elliott Laurent, who took first place in 52.67. Laurence He completed that podium in third at 59.58.

The premier 3x3x3 Cube contest drew 78 competitors across three rounds, serving as the centerpiece of this WCA competition. CJ Furey clinched the title with a tournament-best winning average of 7.41 seconds, anchored by a blistering single solve of 6.36 seconds. In the final 3x3 results, Vladyslav Hordiienko took second place for Ukraine with an 8.85 average, while his compatriot Maksym B. Tsymbaliuk took third with a 9.07 average. The classic Rubik's Cube battle delivered razor-thin margins throughout the bracket.

Short-format puzzles delivered rapid turnarounds across the weekend. In the 2x2x2 Cube, Kalin Doherty captured the victory with an average of 1.91 seconds, narrowly edging out Stephanie Rose Martin who claimed silver at 1.97, while William Carey earned third at 2.52. Carey returned to the top of the podium in Skewb, winning with an average of 2.67 seconds over Hugo McGrath at 2.85 and Rían Burke at 2.89. In the Pyraminx final, Oisín Olwill earned first place with a 3.09 average, while Jack Corr won Clock with an average of 3.54, and Burke secured the Square-1 title with a 9.13 average.

Colm McCarthy produced a masterclass in memory and execution, sweeping both blindfolded disciplines at Solving by the Barrow 2025. In the 3x3x3 Blindfolded event, McCarthy took gold with a single time of 31.86 seconds, finishing ahead of Kalin Doherty's 38.78 and Ben Timmons's 40.24. McCarthy then topped the 4x4x4 Blindfolded field with a winning single mark of 2:59.64. Doherty secured another silver with a 3:20.77 solve, and Carey took third place in 6:33.91, proving the immense focus required for large-cube blindfolded solving.

Away from the podium battles, several competitors achieved remarkable milestones across their individual programs. Sarah Dowling slashed her 2x2x2 Cube personal best to 11.91 seconds, an improvement of 63.2 percent, while recording her first ever attempt at Pyraminx with a time of 24.57. Danny McGrath dropped his 3x3x3 Cube personal best by 37 percent to 29.91 seconds and logged his first ever attempts at 4x4x4 Cube in 2:03.78 and Clock in 21.67. Aleksander Mucha cut his Skewb mark by 44.6 percent down to 9.29 seconds and recorded his first Clock solve at 21.23, while Thomas Tierney took on his first 4x4x4 Cube attempt in 1:33.61 and lowered his 3x3x3 One-Handed personal best by 46.8 percent to 39.22 seconds.

Other solvers similarly pushed their limits across the tables. Oisin Gabriel Dillon registered a 30 percent improvement in the 3x3x3 Cube with a personal best of 13.02 seconds alongside his first ever 2x2x2 Cube attempt of 3.48. Jack Spillane chopped 42.7 percent off his 2x2x2 Cube time down to 6.15 seconds and improved his Pyraminx mark by 39.6 percent to 6.99. Daniel Strzelecki took seventh place in 3x3x3 Blindfolded while posting a personal best of 2:10.50, an improvement of 32.3 percent. Sean Kinsella, competing in his first WCA competition, completed his first ever attempts in Skewb at 54.10, 2x2x2 Cube at 16.89, and Pyraminx at 12.48.

Across the entire weekend of speed cubing, Irish competitors collected 28 podium finishes, while Ukrainian solvers earned five. Solving by the Barrow 2025 demonstrated the high competitive ceiling and deep participation present in Athy, Kildare, Ireland, offering a well-rounded showcase across short sprints, multi-layered puzzles, and blindfolded events. The two days of competition provided memorable personal milestones and commanding championship performances, closing out a major stop on the national calendar.