Skydiving Indian youth attempts record for fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle tetrahedron whilst in freefall

While many find skydiving frightening and solving a Rubik’s Cube puzzling, this 23-year-old from India combined the two, descending 13,000 feet, while attempting to create the world record for the fastest time to solve a rotating puzzle tetrahedron whilst in freefall.

Chinmay Prabhu, 23, made the attempt on April 14 in Thailand. While the time to beat was 30 seconds, Chinmay, a resident of Mumbai city in western India, did the job in 24.22 seconds.

The 23-year-old is awaiting official confirmation from Guinness World Records.

“It usually takes 12-13 weeks for them to confirm,” Chinmay told Newslions during an exclusive interview.

Speaking about his drive, he said, “After having two Guinness World Record Titles to my name- one for solving pyraminx puzzles underwater, and on land while riding a bicycle- the next idea that immediately popped into my mind was why not sky?”

“After spending sleepless nights, today I finally went skydiving in Thailand and solved a pyraminx puzzle in 24 seconds whilst in freefall,” he added.

Visuals captured Chinmay’s flight, his attempt to create the record and his safe descent. It wasn’t easy, especially with the wind blowing hard.

“The most challenging part was to take the puzzle and then hold onto it,” Chinmay confessed. “Pyraminx is considered to be an easy puzzle, but for a skydive it’s the hardest one as the shape makes it slip out of hand continuously.”

Chinmay will be sending the evidence to Guinness World Records and will wait for their approval. “Once approved, it will add another feather to my cap!”

A team of two people, an instructor and a camera flyer helped the 23-year-old during his record attempt.

Asked about the conception of the idea, Chinmay said, “During the lockdown, I thought of making a comeback to Guinness World Records and I wanted to do it with a bang!”

He said that there were no second thoughts once he had dreamt of making the record. “Ever since I thought of attempting the record, I knew I had to attempt it, there’s no coming back!”

What makes this even more impressive is the fact that it was Chinmay’s first attempt at skydiving. “I had no experience [of skydiving] but had watched a lot of skydiving videos on the internet. I had it in my bucket list for long.”

With two world records in the kitty and one pending approval, the Mumbai resident, who is currently pursuing a Masters degree in IT, said his future plans involve promoting cubing. “I want cubing to get the attention it deserves, I genuinely believe that my videos will inspire more people.”