Captain Andrew Cooney FRGS AFRIN (born 1979), is a British explorer and was the youngest man to walk to the South Pole. Early life Born in April 1979"Andrew Mark Cooney", Companies House, accessed 19 April 2026 in Buckinghamshire, Cooney grew up at Thurgarton. He joined the Scouts and earned the highest scouting award (the Queen's Scout), later completing the Bronze, Silver and Gold stages of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme. He was educated at Southwell Minster School, then from the age of sixteen at Southampton Institute, where he studied electronic and computer engineering. He earned a BA (Hons) degree in Maritime Leisure Management.
Career Cooney became a Scout Leader, and on 3 January 2003, aged 23, he became the youngest person ever to walk to the South Pole.Matthew Beard, "Briton breaks days-old record to reach Pole", The Independent, Friday 3 January 2003 Berkeley MBA Students Plan Pioneering Polar Expedition, 23 June 2010, accessed 19 April 2026 He was commissioned into the British Army's Royal Logistic Corps, Territorial Army, and by February 2007 had been promoted to Captain and was fund-raising in the hope of leading an expedition to the North Pole in March 2008."Young explorer eyes polar record", BBC News, 21 February 2007, accessed 19 April 2026
Cooney now runs his own business, delivering presentations, workshops, and university lectures around Britain.
Affiliations Fellow, Royal Geographical Society Associate Fellow, Royal Institute of Navigation
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