Honestly, for a long time, I thought I was a pretty skilled typist. I love typing games. I usually beat all my friends in words-per-minute (WPM) tests. Usually, I’m the runaway champion. I credit this skill to always being an internet kid. I have been Too Online since I was a teenager. Now, typing is essentially my job.
On Tuesday morning, I noticed that registration for the Ultimate Typing Championship — a reboot of the 2010 tournament — had opened. I will never be an Overwatch or StarCraft 2 pro, but typing? Yeah, I figured this was my chance.
I was wrong.
It sounded easy to qualify: Participate in at least 50 typing races on TyprX, a WPM-typing site that has typists racing to type quotes of varying lengths. Typists have from Aug. 3-9 to make it into the top 25 leaderboard; only those finalists will make it through to the livestreamed event on Aug. 22. I am devastated to share with you that after 50 typing races — all of which I completed on Tuesday — I’m ranked 126th out of 200 typists. I am not even in the top half of typists on the site.
Qualifications Open for the Ultimate Typing Championship and Top 25 Competition Format Announced: https://t.co/TZhjZCn1kd
— Ultimate Typing Championship (@UltimateTyping) August 3, 2020
My arms are very tired and sore. It was probably not in my best interest to complete 52 typing tests in a span of a few hours. However, there are a few days left in the Ultimate Typing Championship qualifiers. There is room for improvement — only the top 30 races count toward the average speed that determines who’s made it into the top 25. I doubt I will make it into the top 25, but I would like to rank in the top 100. I could settle for that.
On Tuesday, I learned something important: I am not, actually, a very good typist. My friends, really, are just very bad. (Or, perhaps, it’s my keyboard’s fault? There’s a lot of travel!!)
The Ultimate Typing Championship will be livestreamed on Twitch and YouTube on Aug. 22. All 25 participants will get a Das keyboard, but the top prize is $5,000.