Officer breaks South Pole record
LIEUTENANT Scott Sears‚ a British army officer born to a South African mother‚ has broken the record to become the youngest person to reach the South Pole “completely alone‚ unassisted and unsupported”.
Sears‚ 27, who serves in the First Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles‚ successfully completed a five-week‚ 1 100km journey in freezing temperatures‚ from the Hercules Inlet to the South Pole.
“I’m very proud of what has been achieved over the last 38 days but serving alongside the Gurkhas will always be my proudest achievement. Jai 1RGR!‚” he shared in a post to his blog over the Christmas long weekend.
“Thank you to my friends and family who have supported me through this expedition. It’s always a lot harder to watch someone you care about do something dangerous than actually do it yourself‚ I appreciate how difficult it must have been‚ especially for my family‚ so thank you for understanding (eventually!).”
He raised £30 000 (about R496 000) for schools in Nepal which are still struggling to rebuild after the devastating April 2015 earthquake‚ as well as the Gurkha Welfare Trust.
His mother is Leonore Sears‚ the South African-born mother-in-law of tennis player Andy Murray. Her daughter Kim married the British player in 2015.
The glamorous Leonore, according to her LinkedIn profile‚ is a “retired sales manager‚ gap year granny and property developer”‚ living in the UK. She previously worked at Cambridge University Press‚ where she was employed for almost 17 years. Her alma mater is the University of Cape Town‚ where she obtained a Bachelor of Social Science‚ Sociology degree.
Her schooling was completed in East London‚ at Clarendon Girls.
Scott, born and raised on the south coast of England‚ credits his physicality to both his parents – Leonore and tennis trainer Nigel Sears – who once coached South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer.
“Both my parents were involved in sport‚ with my mother waterskiing for South Africa and my father being a full-time tennis player and then later a coach‚” Sears said.
He spent five years on the international tennis circuit before studying in the US and trying out various hobbies, including singing and mountaineering before joining the army. — DDC