Leo Borromeo
EVEN at the tender age of nine, Leo Borromeo has proven that he is a force to be reckoned with in the speedcubing scene after toppling down professional speedcubers, twice his age and height, in the nationwide rankings.
As his father Carlo would say, solving the Rubik’s Cube has been his son’s idea of fun for almost three years now.
“If you are a kid, everything is just for play. He just has gotten so good at it that he is better than those people who do it for a living,” the proud father said.
Indeed, the grade three student has beaten other speedcubers of the same age and even those way older than him, after winning the Cebu Open 2017, a speedcubing competition in Cebu held February 18-19 at Robinsons Cybergate.
He bested 62 other competitors with his best time: 7.83 seconds, and an average of 9.47 seconds in solving the 3×3 Rubik’s Cube, defeating Jay Benedict Alfaras, the second highest in speedcubing rankings nationwide.
Leo currently holds the 9th place in speedcubing in the Philippines.
More cubes than robots
When we visited Leo on his home last Saturday, he was wearing a red shirt with the super hero The Flash print, while solving a 3×3 Rubik’s Cube on his favorite study table, his parents’ birthday gift to him last year.
And just like The Flash, Leo got the speed, perhaps not in running miles just like the superhero character, but his speed manifests in solving Rubik’s Cube in just a matter of seconds.
“I saw it on TV or Youtube, and wanted to try it,” he said without loosing his eyes on his cube, as he tries to solve it and immediately taps his tab, to check on his time.
“He’s not really that shy. If you have watch his videos, he is actually very calm and is even cheering for his fellow cubers,” said his mother Sheryl.
According to Carlo and Sheryl, their son Leo has learned on his own through watching Youtube tutorials and with his fellow cubers, he gets to hang out here in Cebu.
“Wala na siya naliwat namo. No one in this house knows how to do it. Di mi kahibaw ana,” Carlo told CDN.
Leo would spends most of his free time solving the Rubik’s Cube, in different kinds including his favorite 3×3, the 2×2 cube and is getting better at solving the 4×4 cube.
“You can always find him holding his cubes. Either waiting for orders to arrive in the restaurants or while watching cartoons or during summers at home,” shared his father.
When asked what’s the secret to Leo’s exceptional speed in solving the Rubik’s Cube, his father shared it’s a matter of practice.
“During summer, he tries 1,000 tries everyday,” said Carlo.
Leo immediately corrected this by saying that it’s just 500 or 300 solves a day. He said, “No, it’s not possible. It’s only 500 or 300 a day.”
Between speedcubing, Leo is also into music like his father, and prefers playing the guitar. Metal is his favorite genre.
“Speedcubing helps him, in a way that it gives him focus and improves his analytical skills and as parents we just hope that he would apply what he learns in speedcubing in real life,” Carlo said.