Andrew Bree competed in the men’s 100 metres and 200 metres breaststroke at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, and returned to the Olympic pool eight years later to reach the semi-finals of the 200 metres breaststroke at Beijing 2008, lowering his own Irish record twice in the process.

From Helen’s Bay, Co. Down, and a member of Ards Swimming Club, Bree attended the University of Tennessee. He became the first Northern Irish person to win a medal at the European Short Course Swimming Championships when he finished second in the 200 metres breaststroke in Dublin in 2003. He also represented Northern Ireland at four Commonwealth Games.

He narrowly missed qualifying for Athens 2004 by less than half a second. In the months before Beijing a positive test for a banned substance in a nasal spray temporarily threatened his participation, but the result was overturned after he demonstrated the unintentional nature of the violation. At Beijing he won his heat in the 200 metres breaststroke in a new Irish record of 2:10.91, breaking it again in the semi-finals to 2:10.16.

He holds Irish records in the 100 metres breaststroke, 200 metres breaststroke and 200 metres individual medley.