{"id":344649,"date":"2019-01-10T07:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T14:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=344649"},"modified":"2019-01-09T15:05:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T22:05:46","slug":"swimmings-symphony-the-journey-of-blind-swim-coach-and-paralympian-tharon-drake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/swimmings-symphony-the-journey-of-blind-swim-coach-and-paralympian-tharon-drake\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming’s Symphony: The Journey of Blind Swim Coach and Paralympian, Tharon Drake"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Taylor Covington, Swimming World College Intern.<\/em><\/p>

Tharon Drake placed his feet as he always had, letting his hand slide over the leathery curve of the basketball in search of its familiar spot. Sinking into the usual stance, he shot – this time anticipating the resounding thump of the ball off the backboard. On cue, Drake leapt for the rebound, where the worn leather that had just left his fingertips suddenly smarted the side of his face, evoking pain that spanned beyond the physical and acute.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s alright;\ntry again.\u201d He heard his father\u2019s voice from across the gym. <\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m not trying\nthat again!\u201d Drake responded, astounded. <\/p>

\u201cTry again,\u201d his father interrupted, \u201cYou\u2019ll be okay.\u201d<\/p>

\"drakebasketballjan2019\"
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Drake had just experienced a painful realization that most of us only know in our nightmares – one that would shape the course of his life for years to come. He had opened his eyes that morning to find that he was completely blind.<\/p>

\u201cThe last thing I remember seeing was my dad when I went to hug him goodnight. I had suffered from amnesia for about six months, and I woke up the next morning having completely lost my sight.\u201d<\/p>

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Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Drake suffers from an unusual case of cortical blindness, a type of vision loss that normally occurs due to damage in the brain\u2019s occipital cortex. Doctors remain mystified in regards to Drake\u2019s particular case that is accompanied by hemispheric migraines. They are unsure of the specific cause for his complete loss of vision at age fifteen. <\/p>

\u201cThat first day [of being completely blind] my dad retaught me how to shoot a basketball and get my own rebound. As an adult, I look back on moments like that and realize that those were the best moments I could have ever had. We learn from our failures. Those stumbling blocks weren\u2019t bad things; they were great learning and teaching moments.\u201d <\/p>

With his father as his swim coach, Drake had been training and competing in the water for close to six years at the onset of his blindness.<\/p>

\u201cMy dad played a huge role in everything. I remember him telling me, \u2018You\u2019re blind, and that\u2019s okay, but being blind doesn\u2019t give you can excuse to give up on life.\u2019 He was right.\u201d<\/p>

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Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @tharondrake<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Immediately\nafter losing his sight, Drake faced the inevitable reality that he would need\nto relearn a sport that had played an integral role in his life since age nine.<\/p>

\u201cIt was frustrating, but I had a choice. I could either cry about what I didn\u2019t have, or I could go for it. If I focused on all the the things going wrong in my life, I would be a really sad, depressed person. I had to learn to smile and trust that it would all be okay. It was. I had a plan that I didn\u2019t understand at the time, but I look back and see that everything has worked out for me.\u201d<\/p>

That plan didn\u2019t\nunfold without obstacles, however, as Drake proceeded to learn how to compete\nin his sport as a blind athlete. <\/p>

\u201cHis first practice back, he didn\u2019t swim all that much,\u201d Drake\u2019s father, Shawn Drake, remembers. \u201cHis team was just so excited to have him back. Everyone was questioning him; they were curious and just wanted to make sure he was okay.\u201d<\/p>

That initial day marked the beginning of a brutal and beautiful journey, as Drake tried to navigate the sport he so loved through trial and error.<\/p>

\u201cAs it went on,\nI had a lot of teammates that helped make life easier, some more patient than\nothers,\u201d Drake recalls. \u201cI can remember swimming down the lane and losing the\nlane line. I eventually crossed over to the opposite rope, where one of my\nfriends grabbed me by the shoulders and said, \u2018Hey watch where you\u2019re going;\nyou\u2019re on the wrong side again.\u2019 It was all about patience, but swimming soon became\nan outlet for me to just be me. It never really changed for me even after going\nblind. It was a place where I didn\u2019t have my cane, where I still did what I\nalways had.\u201d<\/p>

Drake and his father quickly began to research the blind swimming community, becoming persistent in learning and adapting their training to maximize Drake\u2019s potential, regardless of his disability.<\/p>

\u201cWe grew and learned together; sometimes we learned the hard way,\u201d Drake laughs. \u201cWe learned about tappers. In my first tapping experience, they hit me with the cane I used for walking with nothing soft on the end. It was all about navigating this new chapter in my life and figuring things out.\u201d<\/p>

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Photo Courtesy: Annie Grevers<\/figcaption><\/figure>

As years went\non, the duo broadened their knowledge and polished their routines, eventually\nseeking every advantage in order to advance to the next level of competition. <\/p>

\u201cWe asked ourselves, ‘What are some things all other blind athletes do?’ They follow the lane line. How do we get off the lane line? That took me years to learn, but now I can do it. I compete down the middle of the lane.\u201d<\/p>

With this\nattention to detail, Drake found himself competing at the elite level in Para\nAthletics. Despite qualifying for prestigious competitions a few short years\nafter losing his sight, Drake was met with his own set of disappointments,\nmissing the 2012 London Paralympic team by one spot.<\/p>

\u201cI always joke that I got a hat, a bag, and a drug test out of that experience,\u201d Drake remembers. \u201cBut that was my wake-up call. I decided I was tired of being the bubble guy – the last person to make a team or the first one to miss the team.\u201d<\/p>

The same night the 2012 London Paralympic team was announced, Drake returned to his hotel and applied immediately to train at the Olympic Training Center, where he practiced for close to five years. <\/p>

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Photo Courtesy: Mary Pruden<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Shifting his focus to the 2016 Rio Games, Drake followed a rigorous training regimen under the tutelage of experts in the field. The World Championships of 2013 brought another set of disappointments, however.   <\/p>

\u201cI took two fourths, a fifth, a seventh, and an eighth. That fourth place was a hard moment. There I was again.\u201d<\/p>

In true form, Drake repackaged his perceived failure as a source of motivation, returning to the Olympic Training Center. With hard-nosed persistence, he began to whittle away at his Olympic dream, bringing home a silver and a bronze from the 2014 Pan-Pacific Games and dropping more time in the 400 free. <\/p>

The 2015 World\nChampionships soon approached, a competition Drake predicted would be\nindicative of his performance at Olympic Trials. <\/p>

\u201cI remember an athlete on my own team telling me that I was bound to take another fourth place in the 400 free. That\u2019s what I did,\u201d Drake recalls. \u201cBut I also remember getting [to the World Championships] and hearing all of those voices of doubt, and then I thought, ‘Really, the only person who can tell me I can\u2019t is me.’\u201d <\/p>

In his preliminary 400 meter freestyle, Drake was initially disqualified for failing to touch the wall. After reviewing the call, the officials reversed the disqualification. Drake entered finals seeded in fourth place.<\/p>

\u201cI got so excited to swim that race, I lost count. That\u2019s where I earned the nickname Mr. 500. The last 50 of my 400, I had to make the decision to either turn or finish once I felt the tapper. I turned,\u201d Drake laughs, \u201cBut I took home bronze in the 400 and a silver in the 100 meter breaststroke.\u201d<\/p>

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