Andrew Bree happy to join in the Mona Magic in Ballyshannon

Former Olympic swimmer, Andrew Bree, who was part of the analyst team in the RTÉ studio during the Olympics, was also part of the homecoming for Olympic bronze medallist, Mona McSharry, when she was paraded into Ballyshannon on Wednesday night.

The Co Down native, whose passion for swimming was there for all to see for anyone who tuned into the RTÉ coverage of the swimming in the Paris Olympics and he was just as passionate when speaking to Donegal Live just before Mona McSharry went on stage to be greeted by a huge adoring crowd in the Market Yard in Ballyshannon.

An imposing figure, standing at 6’6”, you would have considered that Bree would have made a good Gaelic midfielder or a second row in rugby.

With his swimming background, having swam at two Olympics in 2000 and 2008 in the same discipline as McSharry, the breaststroke, he was well aware of what it takes to get to the Olympics and he was also aware of McSharry’s promise having taken sessions with the Marlins Club in the Ballyshannon Leisure  Centre over the years.

“It’s beyond brilliant. It’s pure magic. I love Donegal, I love coming back to Donegal. And the fact that she was able to have her homecoming in Grange last night and then again this event tonight (in Ballyshannon), it’s very special and I’m just glad the Swimming Club reached out and asked me to come down,” said Bree.

“The community has reached out and she will be coming in any minute. I just can’t wait to see her. I haven’t seen her or spoken to her since.

“It will be emotional as well because it is so real when you see that medal. It just puts into our awareness, it is not just a year of training, it’s a decade plus. It all started here in Ballyshannon and all that support with her local team and then her family. It just goes beyond that medal.”

Andrew Bree and Mona McSharry at the homecoming Picture: Thomas Gallagher

But while there are swim events at European and World level, Bree agreed that the pinnacle for swimmers and for all athletes is the Olympics.

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s something different about the Olympics.  It’s the pinnacle of sporting success. It’s the saying, Citius - Altius - Fortius, Stronger, Higher Faster. 

“Getting there is one thing, but getting a medal is the next level. You see when it comes down to it in the race, how close it was, a hundredth of a second and she was able to get her hand on the wall.

“You see what it does, look what it does. Like how often do we experience a community all coming out. It lifts everybody. So real,” said Bree.