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People · United Kingdom

Thom Barlow

3×3 · top 2.1% of 288,433 all-time · competing since November 2006 · 2006BARL01

Thom Barlow has been competing for 20 years. His best event is the 3×3: a personal-best single of 7.59, set at Guildford Open 2013, puts him in the top 2.1% of the 288,433 people who have ever been ranked in the event, and 175th in the United Kingdom. Until July 2008, no official 3×3 solve in the world had been that fast. Across 54 competitions since November 2006, he has put 2,249 official solves on the record across 15 events. Solve to solve, his 3×3 times vary about 11% around a typical one, steadier than 87% of the 36,406 competitors with ten or more counted rounds. His 3×3 best has come down from 15.58 in November 2006 to 7.59, a 51% improvement. Thom has entered 54 competitions, more competitions than 99% of everyone who has ever competed.

3×3
best event — top 2.1% of 288,433 all-time
7.59
signature single · Guildford Open 2013
2,249
official solves on the record
11%
solve-to-solve spread · steadier than 87% of the field

Standing, event by event

vs everyone ever ranked
EventPB singlePB averageAll-time standingUnited Kingdom
3×37.599.69
top 2.1%175 / 6,785
2×21.763.02
top 3.4%253 / 4,946
3×3 one-handed13.9018.51
top 6.0%118 / 1,861
3×3 Fewest Moves27 moves—
top 8.0%38 / 372
4×438.5043.77
top 10.4%250 / 2,112
5×51:23.691:34.44
top 22.3%298 / 1,167
Pyraminx7.8011.04
top 34.6%1,397 / 3,704
3×3 blindfolded2:04.055:06.69
top 34.7%148 / 315
Clock12.5515.16
top 37.6%512 / 1,255
6×63:29.653:53.44
top 54.7%346 / 560
Square-136.0556.39
top 60.0%507 / 789
7×75:48.156:23.26
top 64.7%318 / 463
Skewb12.0912.88
top 66.5%1,634 / 2,439
3×3 Multi-Blind1 of 2 cubes · 2:27—
early days — 3 solves120 / 126
Megaminx4:49.21—
early days — 2 solves988 / 998

Percentile against all competitors ever ranked in each event, a fairer measure than raw rank, because the pools differ by a factor of ten.

The line so far

UK Open 2006: 15.58UK Open 2007: 12.46UK Open 2008: 13.36UK Open 2009: 13.50Bristol Open 2009: 13.33Bristol Spring 2010: 11.52UK Nationals 2010: 11.91UK Open 2010: 10.34NEMO Amsterdam Open 2011: 11.71Guildford Summer Open 2011: 11.36UK Open 2011: 11.19Irish Open 2012: 10.13Rapid Dash Open 2012: 9.91Weston-super-Mare 2012: 9.75United States National Championships 2012: 9.56UK Open 2012: 9.61Leicester Open 2013: 9.63Nottingham Open 2013: 9.05Guildford Open 2013: 7.59UK Rubik's Cube Championship 2013: 8.78Nottingham Open 2014: 9.57Welwyn Garden City Open 2014: 9.40Nottingham Summer 2014: 9.67Welcome To Cambridge 2014: 8.57Cuthberts Open 2014: 8.73UK Rubik's Cube Championship 2014: 9.67The Glorious North 2015: 10.25UK Rubik's Cube Championship 2015: 9.34Manchester Open 2016: 9.60August Bank Holiday Competition 2016: 9.58UK Championship 2016: 10.17Manchester Open 2017: 9.88Guildford Open 2017: 10.29UK Championship 2017: 9.82Manchester Open 2018: 9.68August Bank Holiday Competition 2018: 9.38UK Championship 2018: 9.55Weston-super-Mare Open 2018: 9.75Manchester Open 2019: 9.03Chester Open 2019: 8.60August Bank Holiday Celebration 2019: 9.52UK Championship 2019: 9.49Manchester Open 2020: 10.14Kewbz UK Championship 2022: 10.63Edinburgh Spring 2023: 9.16Stevenage May 2023: 9.33Rubik's UK Championship 2023: 9.98Glasgow Spring 2024: 10.32Rubik's UK Championship 2024: 10.09Weston-super-Mare Autumn 2024: 8.95Manchester Favourites II 2026: 9.40Manchester Cubing League - First 2026: 7.86Manchester September 2026: 8.887.5915.5818 Nov 200619 Sep 2026

Best single per competition, 3×3. Faster is higher — the axis is the right way up.

The story so far

Competitions

Reading this page: a single is one solve's time · an average is the middle three of five solves, best and worst discarded · a PB is a personal best · a DNF (did not finish) is an attempt with no valid result: a popped piece, an unsolved face, an over-limit memorisation · top X% compares against everyone ever ranked in that event, which is fairer than raw rank because event pools differ tenfold.

The circuit

The people whose scorecards keep turning up next to his.

  • Joey Gouly — met in 395 rounds, finished ahead 211 times
  • Robert Yau — met in 368 rounds, finished ahead 45 times
  • Daniel Sheppard — met in 339 rounds, finished ahead 148 times

Next targets

  • A sub-6 3×3 single — 1,419 people have one; it is 1.59 away.
  • A sub-1 2×2 single — 1,050 people have one; it is 0.76 away.

Targets move as he improves.