Anthony Michael Brooks

Anthony Brooks performing a One-Handed Solve at a Beyond Rubik's Cube Event

Anthony Michael Brooks is an American speedcubing champion who holds the Guinness World Record for most Rubik's Cubes solved underwater in a single breath.^[1] He has also set seventy-seven national records and three continental records in events^[2] recognized by the World Cube Association (Rubik's Cube, Pyraminx^[3] and 3x3 Multiple Blindfolded^[4]). His specialty is speedsolving small cubes (2x2 and 3x3) as he has been ranked in the top five^[5] in the world in both categories. One of Brooks' more notable cubing achievements occurred on October 15, 2011 when he became the 3x3 North American record holder.^[6] He acquired the title by beating the previous continental best of 6.94 seconds held by fellow competitor, Rowe Hessler, by the smallest possible margin - one hundredth of a second - at the Dayton Fall 2011.^[7] Brooks was also the 2011 2x2 US National Champion^[8] and is part of the team that holds the world record for solving the world's largest functioning Rubik's Cube, the Groovik's Cube.^[9]

Appearances

Brooks has served as a performer at the World Science Festival and has twice performed on stage at the Liberty Science Center's annual Genius Award Gala^[10] for recipients and guests such as Bill Nye, David Blaine, Sir Richard Branson, Gary Kasparov, Susan Sarandon, and will.i.am. He also acted as the principal performer at the Beyond Rubik's Cube exhibition's world premiere for Erno Rubik, Janos Ader, Bob Menendez, Kim Guadagno and Steve Fulop.

Speedcuber Anthony Brooks pictured with Rubik's Cube inventor Erno Rubik (center) and Hungarian President Janos Ader (right) at the VIP opening of Beyond Rubik's Cube at the Liberty Science Center.

Brooks has demonstrated speedcubing live on ABC,^[11] Bloomberg Television,^[12] CNN^[13] and NPR,^[14] and has been featured in segments aired on BBC,^[15] ESPN^[16] and NBC.^[17] He made his commercial debut in Volkswagen's "You Can't Fake Fast" ad campaign^[18] and his newspaper appearances include the New York Times,^[19] Wall Street Journal^[20] and New York Daily News.^[21]

Liberty Science Center CEO, Paul Hoffman, speedcuber Anthony Brooks, Budapest inventor Erno Rubik, NJ Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, US Senator Robert Menendez, and Hungarian President Janos Ader at the opening of the Beyond Rubik's Cube museum exhibition.

Personal

A graduate of The Science Academy of South Texas, he currently studies at Hillsdale College^[22] where he is a member of the Alpha Tau Omega national fraternity. Brooks began his cubing career representing Belize, but subsequently switched to American nationality in January 2010. His two younger brothers also partake in competitive speedcubing.

World Records

Event	Result	Location	Date
Rubik's Cubes underwater	5 cubes (1:18)	Liberty Science Center	August 1, 2014
Groovik's Cube	4:29	Liberty Science Center	October 19, 2013

Belizean National Records

Event	Result	Competition
Rubik's Cube single	9.69 seconds	Austin Fall 2009
Rubik's Cube average	12.38 seconds	Austin Fall 2009
4x4 Cube single	81.03 seconds	Toronto Open Summer 2009
4x4 Cube average	90.82 seconds	Toronto Open Summer 2009
2x2 Cube single	1.55 seconds	Toronto Open Summer 2009
2x2 Cube average	4.14 seconds	World Championship 2009
3x3 Blindfolded single	105.57 seconds	World Championship 2009

External links