From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Andrew Bree

Personal information
Full name	Andrew Bree
Nationality	Ireland /  Northern Ireland
Stroke(s)	Breaststroke
Club	Ards / Tennessee
Date of birth	March 16, 1981 (1981-03-16) (age 28)
Place of birth	Helen's Bay, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight	95 kg (210 lb)
Medal record swimming Competitor for  Ireland European Championships - Short Course Silver 2003 Dublin 200 m breaststroke

Andrew Bree (born March 16, 1981) is a breaststroke swimmer from Helen's Bay, Co. Down Northern Ireland. He is a 2-time Irish Olympian, having swam at the 2000 and 2008 Olympics.

He became the first Irish person to win a medal at the European Short Course Swimming Championships when he finished second in the 200 m breaststroke at the 2003 Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, Ireland.^[1] His Irish club is Ards, but as of 2008 he trains in at the University of Tennessee (USA).

After swimming at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney;^[2] Bree failed to qualify for the [[2004 Summer Olympics]grstsdtreytretrey5rey5wery5d55r4t5t5t4t33] in Athens.^[3] However, he qualified for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. There he equaled the 200 m LC breaststroke record and placed fifth.^[4]

In the months leading up to the 2008 Olympics he tested positive at a drug test. Bree claimed that he had used a nasal spray and did not know it contained banned substances. The results of the drug test were later overturned and he was allowed swim at the Beijing Olympics.^[5]

Beijing 2008 Olympics

Bree qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics at the 2008 US National Swimming Championships in Indiana by swimming a new personal best time and then-Irish record of 2:13.14 in the 200 m breaststroke. At the British Swimming Championships in June 2008 he swam the 100 m breaststroke in a time of 1:01.83 which allowed him to swim the 100 m breaststroke at the Olympics also. He was also entered in the heats of the 200 metres individual medley but scratched from the heats.^[6]

In the 200 m breaststroke heats he won his heat in a time of 2.10.91, breaking his own Irish record by over 2 seconds, and then lowering it again in semi-finals to 2:10.16.^[6] He is also Irish record holder in the 100 m breaststroke (1:01.78) and the 200 m individual medley (2:04.43).

References