Andrew grew up in the coastal town of Perranporth Cornwall. With the beach and ocean as a playground it was only a natural progression for Andrew to develop a keen interest in ocean activities. At three years old he was undertaking swimming and bodyboarding under the guidance of his parents Alan and Jacquie. By seven he owned his first stand up surf board and like most other water babies spent almost every available waking hour in the sea with friends through the summer months. In winter the waters being very cold favoured dry land activities so Andrews thirst for active sports was satisfied by undertaking almost every sport available to him. In particular he focussed on rugby, football athletics and tennis. He attended county trials for both rugby and football and took a county silver age group medal in athletics at 13. Rupturing his right hamstring muscle during a football match brought these dry land, lower body focussed activities to a dramatic end.


Due to limited knowledge the problem went untreated for months until advice from friends directed him to a Physiotherapist and it was to be a year and a half until he could run properly again. During this time Andrew continued activities at Perranporth Surf Life Saving club (SLSC) and surfing with his brother. At the end of this year he ended up taking his first National Junior medal in the board paddling race at 15. Like many young surfers of this age Andrew aspired to be a professional surfer, the first step of which would be acquiring sponsorship. After approaching Snugg wetsuits they agreed to support Andrew, not for surfing but surf life saving talents. This was the key motivating factor for Andrew to begin training. The winter of 1994-5 was the start of habitual training for swimming, running, kayaking and circuits under the supervision of accomplished athlete/coach Simon Lawrence. The following summer (1995) saw Andrew go undefeated in domestic junior ironman competition cumulating in him taking the National Junior ironman title and a well-earned place in the British Junior Team.



After the success of the '95 season financial support followed from Timex watches, product support from surf wear and  Sunglass companies and prize money. This provided increasing incentives for success. Due to this Andrew was given the opportunity to live out his dreams and enjoyed spending the following 4 years travelling as a semi-professional athlete and member of the British Surf Life Saving Team.  Racing and training around the globe he achieved top 10 World positions and European medals. At 18 He was showing obvious talents as an up and coming flat water sprint kayaker and spent a season racing Nationally, resulting in a British junior (U18)  bronze medal in 1998.


2001 saw Andrew travel to a sub-tropical island in Japan called Miyako jima. While here he was offered a job as an English teacher and returned the following year with then girlfriend Victoria to Work. The couple married on the beautiful island and remained there for the next three years. The island was also home to the All Japan strongman Triathlon race and many budding triathletes. The island was very remote and although a paradise it had limited activities to do outside of social drinking sessions and very sharky surfing. He decided to give triathlon a go, but there was a little barrier standing in his way.

Completion of the All Japan Strongman Triathlon after overcoming his phobia of riding bikes  (3.8km swim/155km bike/42km run)

Andrew had a phobia of riding at speed on bikes and as a result could not go faster than 25km max speed even on the flat.  In his first Olympic distance triathlon Andrew exited the water in first position, and wasn't seen until 1 hour and 50mins later after the 40km bike! He had lost an incredible 560 places in that time and had many people stopping to ask "Are you ok, are sure you don't need help??" Unfortunately this was just the speed he cycled. It took many hypnotherapy sessions, much practice and a lot of positive self talk to overcome the problem and two years later he had almost halved his 40km bike time and qualified for the British age group triathlon team. He competed in the World Triathlon championships in 2004 finishing 12th in his age group
20-24.



2004 was also the year Andrew returned from to the UK with his wife, after learning the Japanese language and making many new friends. With his background in kayaking as a junior and the new found skill in triathlon he decided that quadrathlon would be the new sporting focus in his life. Since then he has achieved a 5th at the World championships and became British champion along with medalling in the British championships for triathlon.

At present he is studying towards BSc Physiotherapy at the University of Plymouth and works as a seasonal beach lifeguard at Perranporth in the summer months. The following years sporting focus will be to achieve British team Selection for Triathlon (age group), Surf Life Saving and Quadrathlon in the same year and Bring home a world medal......

"Thank you to all the sponsors, family and friends who have helped me all the way on this path I chose. Without their support, sacrifices and understanding none of the opportunities I have had would have been possible. I have enjoyed every minute! " Andrew