One for the Record Books

While most of his friends were pedaling around on bikes, Reed Middle School (SPS) student Jonah Swann chose a different mode of transportation. “I started riding unicycles when I was around 12 or 13,” Jonah says. “I got one as a Christmas gift one year.”

Jonah’s new hobby turned more serious rather quickly, and he was soon found riding his unicycle on the mountain bike trails that cut through the woods near his Springfield home. “Once I got into riding mountain trails, I started doing jumps and learning tricks,” he says.

Jonah continued unicycling throughout his years at Central High School, and he eventually decided to put his unique skills to good use. “I had also joined a Rubik’s Cube club and gotten into cubing when I was in middle school,” Jonah says. “Well, I saw there was a Guinness World Record of solving Rubik’s cubes while riding a unicycle, and I decided I wanted to break it.”

As he was preparing for the big day, Jonah decided to attempt the feat for more than just bragging rights. “I realized that it would be a lot more meaningful if I turned this goal of mine into a fundraiser,” Jonah says. “We made an event out of it, and I rode to raise money for a local non-profit here—Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks.”

A few months later, Jonah broke the record: he’ll go down in history for solving 302 Rubik’s cubes while unicycling around the greens at Springfield’s Big Shots Golf. He also raised $28,000 for his charity and—most importantly—found a love for philanthropy. “It meant a lot for me to give to the BCFO because my Grandmother, who I never got to meet, died of breast cancer,” Jonah says. “I hope to become more and more philanthropic as I grow older.”