February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Not since Gary O’Toole?s memorable effort in the long course championships in 1989 had an Irishman stood on the medal rostrum, but Bree’s performance in a new national record time of 2 minutes 8.02 seconds has put him in the frame for next year’s Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
It was also the first medal at European level won in Irish water, and apart from O’Toole and Michael Williamson who won a World Student Games bronze, no other Irish male swimmer has won a medal at a senior international level.
Swimming in Ireland has been under a cloud following a number of cases of sexual abuse inflicted on athletes by coaches, while former Olympic gold medal winner Michelle de Bruin’s two year ban for tampering with a urine sample in the course of a doping control didn’t exactly enhance the sport?s reputation, but this latest success by 22 year old Bree from Helen?s Bay near Bangor in county Down could prove an inspiration for budding youngsters.
“It really puts us back on the international scene,” said Ireland team coach Ger Doyle. “It’s something we’ve been striving to achieve for a long time, and we’ve had so many problems in the past, so this really lifts everything.”
For Bree, who swims for the University of Tennessee, this outstanding performance was two places better than his frustrating fourth at the last European Championships.
“The crowd inspired me big time, I wouldn’t want to do it anywhere else. It reminded me a bit of the Olympic Games in Australia when the home crowd were cheering on Ian Thorpe. I was really relaxed, but I didn’t have a clue where I was coming in to that last length. In the end, it just felt so smooth.”
There were two other Irish national records at the end of the meet with Steven Manley clocking a new time in the 200 meters freestyle, while the 4×50 freestyle relay squad also set a new mark.