#1 Oliver Wheat

Welcome to 'meet the cuber!' A new weekly series where you get to know some of our community's familiar faces a little bit better.

Our first entry is from UKCA vice-president & WCA delegate Oliver Wheat!

How did you get into cubing?

I had one lying around in a box and learnt to solve it after a friend was showing off. Then I forgot about it for a few years until my GCSEs when I had a technology ban, so the cube was a great distraction from revision. That’s really when the obsession began.

Describe your first competition...

ABHC 2016 - I was nervous at first but found some people my age and managed to start talking with them. It was so cool suddenly having other people who knew all these cubing terms and algorithms, who I could talk with excitedly about our shared passion. I still have a lot of memories of this competition and ABHC has a special place in my heart, so it’s really cool that I’ve been able to bring them to my hometown in 2022 and 2023.

What do you enjoy most about cubing?

The friendliness and sportsmanship in the community. Everyone is always happy for you when you do well!

What is your favourite event?

3x3 Multiblind - it really pushes the limits of blindfolded solving and is seriously impressive to both non cubers and veterans.

What is your biggest cubing accomplishment?

My first sub-10 average of 5 on 3x3. It was a huge long term milestone for me and I got it after only a week of focusing on trying to get it.

What do you get up to outside of cubing?

I am a Data Analyst for an insurance company. A lot of my relevant skills actually came from doing statistics on the WCA database, so even my work life has stemmed from cubing!

What piece of advice would you give to newer cubers?

Give it a go, compete in every event you can make the time limit in and start practicing the events where you can’t.

Last but not least, a fun fact?

I have played piano since I was eight years old and have also written my own songs.

Thank you for the brilliant answers OJ, I hope this post has let you get to know a key community figure a bit better!