Swimmer Tharon Drake has won many swimming medals, including the silver medal in the Men's 100 m Breaststroke in the 2016 Paralympic Games. Then in April 2018 Drake won a whole different position; that of Assistant Swim Coach at Catawba College in North Carolina. Here's how he does it and what the students say about him.
Drake lost his sight at age 15 due to missing brainwaves, an extremely rare condition. In this NCAA article Drake explains how he lost his sight.
“I have some weird brain problems. They don’t know a whole lot about it. I have hemispheric migraines, it’s not a normal migraine, on top of other stuff. My blindness is cortical. They don’t know what caused it. I had to have a test that showed certain brainwaves were absent that give you eyesight. It’s a crazy case. I have a neurologist I am going to that is 70 years old and she’s never seen anything like it before and she’s been practicing for 40 years.”
But that hasn't stopped Drake. In this NPR Morning Edition story, Drake demonstrates that he is "More than Capable."
Being a collegiate coach is tough — coaching while blind is even more difficult. The only person to do it in NCAA swimming is Tharon Drake, an assistant coach at Catawba College in North Carolina. Listen to this Morning Edition Story from Dec 4, 2018.
Watch the video of Drake winning the Silver Medal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDa2lrOBTic