Blue Peter's Helen Skelton breaks kayak record

Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton has tripled the Guinness World Record for the longest solo journey by kayak.

The 26-year-old broke the existing record of 326.98 miles set in 2006 while completing her journey along the Amazon for Sport Relief.

Skelton has clocked up more than 1,000 miles in just three weeks and has just passed the half-way mark.

Evidence of the presenter's feat is being sent to Guinness World Records for final verification.

Organisers say Skelton has also set a new Guinness World Record for the longest distance in a kayak in 24 hours by a woman after paddling her way through 75 miles of Amazonian waters in one day.

'Battling on'

Skelton said of her tough challenge: "One thousand miles down, one thousand miles to go. I know I've got a lot of hard work still to do but at least I am closer to the end than the beginning now.

Skelton is attempting to kayak 2010 miles down the Amazon river

"Every single day here is tough so all I can do is take each one at a time and get through it. I have been suffering with the heat, my shoulders are sore and my legs are covered in mosquito bites but I'm battling on."

Skelton, whose progress is being shown on Blue Peter, set off on 20 January near Nauta in Peru, and is aiming to finish 2,010 miles downstream at Almerim in Brazil.

She is paddling around 60 miles a day to reach the target in just six weeks and has just one rest day a week.

Sport Relief will take place from 19 - 21 March and will raise money for charity schemes in the UK as well as developing countries.

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