- published: 17 May 2012
- views: 53943
Andrew Patrick 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 swum 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. 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; Bree failed to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. However, he qualified for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. There he equaled the 200 m LC breaststroke record and placed fifth.
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.
Like a spirit he rides
'till the night becomes light
Always fights where he must
He cannot deny
But he lost his old past
He forgot
He remembers only a word
Evil carries inside
So many lies
Always at war
With the angels of life
The wolf is creepin' inside
Of your soul
And he's tryin' to stay alive!
Fight the night
The sorrow, the pain
Holy power
In your holy name!
Gabriel
Your true name it is
Don't forget
The will of God
Gabriel
Just fight forever
And save us
From the unknown
As a mirror reflecting
The light of the night
You gave us new life
Became our guide
Conceived to be child of Rome
And to be
Servant of the holy church
Fight the night
The sorrow, the pain
Holy power
In your holy name!
Gabriel
Your true name it is
Don't forget
The will of God
Gabriel
Just fight forever
And save us
From the unknown
Gabriel
Your true name it is
Don't forget
The will of God
Gabriel
Just fight forever
And save us