Name: Tharon Drake
Sport: Swimming
Event(s): 100m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, 200m IM
Classification: S11, SB11, SM11
Height: 6-3
Weight: 175
DOB: 12/19/1992
Birthplace: Canyon, Texas
Hometown: Hobbs, N.M.
High School: Hobbs High School (Hobbs, N.M.) ‘11
College: Eastern New Mexico University, Mathematics
Team/Club: United States Resident Team
Coach(es): Nathan Manley
Paralympic Experience
- One-time Paralympian (2016); ; Two-time medalist (2 silvers)
- Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, silver (100m breast, 400m breast), 8th (200m IM)
World Championship Experience
- Most recent: 2017 – Gold (100m breast, 400m free), silver (200m IM), 5th (100m free)
- Years of Participation: 2013, 2015, 2017
- Medals: 5 (2 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze)
- Gold - 2017 (100m breast, 400m free)
- Silver – 2017 (200m IM), 2015 (100m breast)
- Bronze – 2015 (400m free)
Personal:
Drake swam for his father at Hobbs High School and has been swimming since he was nine. In 2007 he was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with amnesia. The condition was a result of vaccinations he had received. In 2008 his eyesight began to deteriorate and he was diagnosed with methylation disorder, which means his body does not absorb vitamins properly. He was named as an alternate for the U.S. team competing at the London 2012 Paralympic Games; he applied for residency at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs the night the London roster was announced....Son of Kimberly Hammed and Shawn and Karen Drake…Has one brother, Tyler, and one sister, Kaitlyn...Has two stepsisters, Carolyn Shaw and Heather Osbourne, and one step brother, Steven Shaw… The night before a competition he watches the movie Talladega Nights, plays an instrument and listens to music…Plays 15 instruments…Volunteers with students at the local school for the blind…In addition to swimming, Drake enjoys playing music on the piano and guitar and playing bridge with his church group.
