Pandemic boredom could lead to worldwide notoriety for a Port Moody teen.
Dominic Tulai is waiting for confirmation that his effort Oct. 2 to solve a Rubik’s cube puzzle 120 times while spinning a hula hoop around his hips is a new Guinness world record.
The previous record was 100 times.
Dominic said the record-setting attempt was borne from a family challenge last spring to see who could keep a hula hoop twirling the longest in their backyard during the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown. The 13-year-old Grade 8 student at Eagle Mountain middle school won easily, sparking an idea.
Dominic’s dad Voicu confirmed in the famous giant annual journal of odd and extreme accomplishments and stunts that there is a record for solving Rubik’s cube puzzles while hula hooping. So he applied for the proper documentation to get a record attempt recognized and his son, who also plays soccer and delivers The Tri-City News along a hilly route in his Heritage Woods neighbourhood, started training.
The puzzle part was easy. Dominic has a collection of the colourful three-dimensional brain teasers in his room, and he can usually solve it in about 30 seconds.
The hula hooping, though, was a more serious matter.
The rules for the record attempt meant Dominic had to keep the hoop spinning continuously above his waist for the duration of his puzzle solving, which he calculated would take an hour or more. No breaks were allowed.
He got spinning. And spinning.
“One hundred per cent, it was just practice,” Dominic said of his mastery of the hoop. “Once I learned how to do it, I just got good at it.”
For the record to be recognized, it had to occur in a public place, in front of independent witnesses, with every element documented by photos and every moment recorded on video.
Dominic’s dad organized four onlookers as well as someone to scramble alternating puzzles at least 40 times each, and arrangements were made to use his school’s courtyard. He also photographed the two cubes and one hula hoop that would be used, as well as devised a video set-up with two cameras and a laptop to count each successful completion of the puzzle.
On Oct. 2, after a good night’s sleep, Dominic went to school, ate a pizza lunch and when classes let out for the day, embarked upon his quest to become a world record holder.
He said when he solved the puzzle for the 100th time — matching the existing record — he felt “so good,” and when he got to 110, he decided to twist the cubes to completion another 10 more times to give his record some buffer. The effort took him 1 hour, 18 minutes.
Afterward, Dominic said his fingers were more tired than his legs. He said there was only one fearful moment, when his elbow was nudged and he felt his hoop starting to slip down his torso before he was able to amp up his gyrations again. He celebrated with a piece of chocolate cake.
Verifying the documentation submitted to Guinness can take up to 12 weeks, said Voicu Tulai.
In the meantime, Dominic is looking for other records he might be able to challenge.
