Meet 15-year-old Daniel Rush, Africa’s fastest cube solver

Lester Kiewit interviews Daniel Rush, Africa’s fastest cube solver and his father, Anthony Rush.

Listen below.

The World Cube Association African Championship is set to kick off this weekend at Fish Hoek High School in Cape Town.

Among the talented competitors is 15-year-old Daniel Rush, who has earned the title of Africa’s fastest cube solver, with an astonishing personal best of 4.87 seconds.

Daniel's incredible journey began in 2018 when he was just 9 years old, and it's only going up from here.

"I practiced and practiced and when I first solved it, it was really accomplishing."

- Daniel Rush, Africa’s fastest cube solver

Daniel attributes his success to three key factors:

• Practice
• Learning algorithms
• Pride and recognition

He explains that when it comes to honing his skills, he focuses on identifying shapes in various colours, which helps him determine the optimal moves needed to solve each step.

It’s also worth noting that this passion runs in the family – both his dad and sister are actively involved in competitions as well!

"The peers that my kids have found along this journey has been incredible...I get an absolute thrill from seeing them all engage with each other."

- Anthony Rush, Daniel's dad

Anthony explains that the World Cube Association African Championship takes place over four thrilling days, drawing competitors from all corners of the continent. 

"It four days of amazing spectacles."

- Anthony Rush, Daniel's dad

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.