Army Sevens Physio Setting Off Solo for South Pole
Captain Preet Chandi can be seen on the touchline at major sevens tournaments as one of the physios supporting the Army 7s.
Her pitchside and immediate support skills are essential to the squad but now she is going it alone on a solo, unsupported trek to the South Pole.
An experienced endurance athlete and Army and Combined Services tennis player, in November she will be travelling 700 miles, pulling a sledge with all of her kit, battling temperatures of -50c and wind speeds of up to 60mph on a journey that will take around 45 days. Antarctica is the coldest, highest, driest and windiest continent with no permanent inhabitants.
Says Capt Chandi: “Pioneers such as Shackleton, Scott, Amundsen and Mawson, have inspired me. There are only a few female adventurers that have completed a solo, unsupported trek on this continent. It’s time to add some more names, diversity and to make history.
“I’ve always had this idea that I can achieve something that allows me to be a role model. I want my eight-year-old niece to grow up without boundaries, knowing the possibilities of what you can achieve in life are endless.
“This journey aims to inspire future generations in achieving whatever they desire and pushing boundaries. By promoting and completing this challenge, it allows me to act as a role model to young people, women and those from ethnic backgrounds.”
Constantly challenging
Training is well underway, and visitors to her website, www.polarpreet.com, can see Capt Chandi pulling a heavy tyre along a muddy path, or on trips to Greenland discovering conditions she will face in the Antarctic
Challenges are hardly new for the 32-year-old who has already been involved in the Marathon des Sables, a six-day, 251km, ultra-marathon in the heat of the Saharan desert. These polar condition will be different, however.
“I literally started on Google, met a few people online, put myself on a Polar training course during my annual leave, went to Greenland,” she says.
Capt Chandi is also well into MSc studies at Queen Mary’s University, as well working full-time as a Clinical Training Officer. She’s been involved in sport since her teens at university, when she was already in the Reserves.
“When I got my first job with the Signals in Blandford the opportunity came up for me to start covering their League team. I learned as I went along and did my Pre-Hospital Emergency Care In Sport course, which is important to have.
“I left Blandford in 2018 to get posted in the north. The opportunity then came up to work with the Army team and I jumped at it. I started covering a few of the men’s matches, and then the women’s matches as well.
“There’s a good team of us, physios, medics and ERIs, and we all support each other with cover for matches and advice. To me it feels like a big family, both the squads but also with the medical side of it.”
Capt Chandi’s Senior Medical Advisor Lt Col Stacy Gough has helped develop her skills within the Army Rugby Union, not least in reinforcing the ethic of planning ahead of every tournament.
“Stacy leads all of us from the medical side and makes sure that we prepare for where we’re going. If we’re going to the Bournemouth Sevens we’ll look to know what people they’ve got – paramedics, ambulances – and what kit they’ll have there and what kit we’ll need to bring with us, where the nearest hospital is, that kind of thing.
“Sevens is so fast! It takes a bit of time to adjust to. I remember the first time I covered a Signals match I was asking ‘when will I know when to go on?’ and people were saying ‘you’ll know!’, and I soon did!
“The players have to be fit. They’re always on the move and their recovery point when they’re off the pitch is important. A lot of the time people don’t realise that they’re injured when they’re on the pitch and it’s not until the end of the day when they ask you to look at an injury.”
With a six-month UN peacekeeping tour to South Sudan already under her belt, as well as other deployments and exercises in Nepal and Kenya, Capt Chandi has packed plenty of career experience into her four-and-a-half years in full-time service.
“You really do become very qualified and develop a large number of skills. You move every two years and have to adjust to something different, developing different management skills and clinical skills. There are so many opportunities within the Army. It’s a fascinating job and if you like variety, which I do, then it’s great.
“We have a great multi-disciplinary team within the Army, with primary care, secondary care and then Stamford Hall, which has fantastic facilities and an elite sports clinic as well. But it’s also important to think about what skills you can take forward, and you get loads of them without even thinking about it.”
The Antarctic trip will be on another level, not least because it will be the first time Capt Chandi takes on something like this on her own. So what does her family think of the inherent risks?
“Anything I do I start planning and then mention it afterwards,” she says. “And sometimes things are so unusual that I try to normalise everything, and don’t say much until it’s further down the line. My brother tells me that I’m so stubborn that if anyone is going to do something it’s going to be me!
“As a female Asian it’s not something you see that often, so it’s also about showing different communities that it doesn’t matter about your background or where you’re from, if you want to achieve something you can.
“This is a solo expedition but I’m not doing this on my own, there are so many people supporting me.”
Capt Chandi is fundraising via gofundme and up to 50% will go toward an adventure grant for females conducting unusual challenges. This will be a yearly grant kick starting in 2022. The remaining funds will go toward her expedition. Visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/polarpreet
