Andrea is a Deaflympian who has competed as an athlete in 6 Deaflympic Games between 1981 and 2009 as a swimmer and badminton player winning six medals in total (1 Gold, 2 Silver & 3 Bronze). She was also the Team Manager for the GB Deaf Badminton team that competed at the Sofia Deaflympics, Bulgaria in 2013.
Born in Motherwell Scotland, Andrea was educated in both deaf and mainstream schools and was a member of the British Deaf Schools Swimming Squad for several years where she was selected for her first Deaflympics in Koln in 1981 at the age of 14.
Andrea continued to swim for the GB Deaf team competing internationally on a regular basis and upon completing her education. From 1986, she retired from swimming and started playing badminton becoming a member of the British Deaf Badminton team in 1987.
Andrea moved to Leeds in 1990 where she married and raised her 2 children, Matthew and Amanda. She continues to live in Leeds and enjoys keeping fit and has recently started playing Pickleball. Andrea is a widow, whose husband was the former GB Deaf Footballer, Stephen Hardwick (MBE) who was captain for the GB Team that won Gold in New Zealand 1989. In her professional capacity Andrea currently works for the Crown Prosecution Service.
