A Ninety-Five-Year-Old From West Seneca Solved a Rubik's Cube in Five Minutes Forty-Nine and Set Three Records Doing It
Frank Zieminski started cubing in 1980 and is now the oldest competitive speedcuber on record. He took the 3x3 mark and both 2x2 marks in his age category at the same competition.
Frank Zieminski is 95 and Guinness World Records has recognised him as the oldest competitive speedcuber. He set the mark at Two Buffalo Cube Days 2026 in West Seneca, New York, solving a 3x3x3 cube in 5 minutes 49.75 seconds.
The three records
| Event | Record |
|---|---|
| 3x3x3 single | 5:49.75 |
| 2x2x2 single | age-category record |
| 2x2x2 average of 3 | age-category record |
All three are within his World Cube Association age category. The WCA maintains the official age-category records, and the over-90s bracket is the relevant one.
The forty-six-year run-up
He started cubing in 1980, forty-six years before the record. He is a member of the Buffalo Speed Cube Club, which meets at the Orchard Park Library, and he competed in the 2x2x2 event at the same competition.
On the pressure of a sanctioned solve, he said: "I was relieved. It's different doing it by yourself and under pressure like that against the clock, I get a little flustered."
On why the record is worth having: "I want people to know that no matter what age, be persistent, and never give up."
Why it counts as competition
Speedcubing is one of the more rigorously governed of the emerging competitive disciplines. The WCA runs sanctioned events with scrambles generated to a standard, judges, inspection time limits and averages taken across multiple solves rather than a single lucky one. A record set at a WCA competition is a record in the same administrative sense as a swimming time, which is the difference between this and a fast solve filmed at a kitchen table.
Where it sits on Playdash
Playdash does not price speedcubing. This is editorial coverage of the competitive-sport calendar rather than a market preview.
Record, times, quotes and biographical details as published by Guinness World Records and WKBW Buffalo. The competition date was not confirmed consistently across those two sources and is not stated here, nor is the previous record holder, whom neither source names. Correct at the time of writing on 28 August 2026.