Preet Chandi: Polar trekker has no plan to stop after world record

An Army officer who completed two record-breaking polar treks says she will "definitely" embark on another challenge in the future.

Preet Chandi MBE earned two Guinness World Records after the 922-mile (1,485km) trek across the Antarctic.

The 34-year-old, from Sinfin, Derby, told BBC Breakfast "there will be something else", but she "just doesn't know what yet".

She said: "I'll bring people along with me on my next journey, whatever it is."

Capt Chandi, also known as Polar Preet, completed the world record for the longest polar ski expedition by a woman, and the overall record.

She trekked from the Hercules Inlet to the Reedy Glacier across Antarctica in 70 days and 16 hours.

The previous world record of 907 miles (1,459.8km) had been set in 2015 by retired Lieutenant Colonel Henry Worsley.

In an interview on BBC Breakfast on Friday morning, Capt Chandi described the challenge as "physically and mentally tough".

She said voice recordings of her family and friends and 25 Haribo sweets rationed over the 71-day trip helped keep her going.

"There were some pretty tough days," she said. "You're looking out into nothingness and there's nothing on the horizon - all I've got is a compass in front of me so I know which direction to go in.

"[The recordings from my family] would go through stories, poems; I got to hear them from my 11-year-old niece - my sled is named after her. I heard stories from my mum, my brothers - it was just amazing and so great to hear their voices."

Throughout the trek, Capt Chandi, a physiotherapist at a regional rehabilitation unit in Buckinghamshire, pulled her kit and supplies on a sledge (pulk), weighing about 19 stone (120kg), in difficult conditions.

She first made history trekking to the South Pole in 2021.

Capt Chandi said she hoped her achievements will inspire others to go out of their comfort zone.

She said: "I don't think I was that adventurous [when I was younger], but I remember thinking to myself a while ago that I wanted to do something big that I don't know anything about. That's why I chose Antarctica.

"If you want to go and do something it's okay to not follow the usual pattern, it's okay to come from somewhere different."

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Polar Preet