From Bethesda Magazine: A Rubik’s world champion is a Rockville middle schooler

Seventh grader Fiona Bao was the only female competitor among more than 80

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April 10, 2026 3:00 p.m. | Updated: April 8, 2026 10:22 a.m.

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2.92 seconds is the average time it took 12-year-old Fiona Bao of Rockville to solve the Rubik’s Clock, one of 17 puzzles recognized by the World Cube Association (WCA), at a national competition for twisty puzzle solvers in November 2025 in Providence, Rhode Island. On five attempts, the fastest and slowest times are eliminated and the average is calculated with the three remaining times.

A seventh grader at Robert Frost Middle School in Rockville, Fiona was the fastest solver in the clock puzzle category and was the only female among more than 80 competitors, known as “speedcubers,” in the two-day event. Other contests included solving the classic 3-by-3 Rubik’s Cube, a 7-by-7 cube and variations (think solving puzzles one-handed or blindfolded). Fiona says the clock puzzle involves pressing little pins and turning dials to get all arrows pointing toward 12 o’clock. In July, she won first place among female competitors for the clock puzzle at the Rubik’s WCA World Championship 2025 in Seattle.

Fiona holds the female world records from the World Cube Association for fastest single solve of the clock puzzle (2.35 seconds) and fastest average (2.73 seconds). Among all genders, she has the 36th fastest time for single solve and 10th fastest for average solve. According to CubingUSA, a website that breaks down WCA stats, Fiona holds several Maryland records among all genders, including single solve in 7-by-7, 6-by-6, 5-by-5 and 4-by-4 cubes. (Her records were all still standing as of early January.)

Fiona got her first cube in third grade, a mini version of the classic Rubik’s Cube. “I thought it was really cute,” she says. She moved on to a regular-size cube, watched YouTube videos and now spends a few hours each day honing her skills on a bunch of different puzzles. “Hopefully I’m an inspiration to females all around the world to cube and learn how to solve one because there aren’t many female cubers in the cubing world,” Fiona says. “I want more to compete.”

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This appears in the March/April 2026 issue of Bethesda Magazine.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine