SENATE MEMORIAL 91

53rd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2017

INTRODUCED BY

Gay G. Kernan

A MEMORIAL

RECOGNIZING THARON DRAKE FOR FOLLOWING HIS DREAMS AND FOR HIS PARALYMPIC SWIMMING ACHIEVEMENTS.

     WHEREAS, Tharon Drake is a remarkable young athlete who lives in Hobbs; and

     WHEREAS, in November 2007, Tharon developed retrograde and anterograde amnesia that lasted six months; and

     WHEREAS, in February 2008, Tharon began losing his eyesight and had completely lost his eyesight by June 2008; and

     WHEREAS, undaunted, Tharon decided to continue to follow his dreams; and

     WHEREAS, the support of his family, including Shawn Drake, Kimberly Hammed, Kaitlyn Drake, Tyler Drake and Karen Drake, and of many others made Tharon's journey possible; and

     WHEREAS, Tharon began to participate in paralympic swimming, an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with disabilities such as visual impairment; and

     WHEREAS, in 2012, Tharon missed making the paralympic swimming team for the London Paralympic games by one spot; and

     WHEREAS, for the next four years, through ups and downs, Tharon made his dream come true by qualifying for the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio de Janeiro; and

     WHEREAS, Tharon won silver medals at the 2016 Paralympic games in the one-hundred-meter breaststroke and the four-hundred-meter freestyle; and

     WHEREAS, Tharon also competed in the one-hundred-meter freestyle, the one-hundred-meter breaststroke and the two-hundred-meter individual medley at the Rio de Janeiro games; and

     WHEREAS, Tharon currently holds the United States paralympic swimming team records for the S11 disability swimming classification for blind swimmers in twelve events; and

     WHEREAS, Tharon also holds the United States paralympic swimming team records in the fifty-meter and the one-hundred-meter breaststroke and in the four-by-one-hundred-meter medley relay; and

     WHEREAS, when Tharon returned from Rio de Janeiro, he wanted to give back to his community and did so by speaking at every school in Hobbs and sharing his story of overcoming his visual impairment and following his dream; and

     WHEREAS, over ten thousand people and eight thousand children have touched Tharon's two silver medals; and

     WHEREAS, Tharon continues to let any person touch his medals with the simple promise that the person will believe that the person can do anything that the person puts the person's mind to; and

     WHEREAS, Tharon was named a New Mexico legend of the pool by the New Mexico activities association and received awards from the city of Hobbs and the Hobbs municipal school district;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that Tharon Drake be recognized for his courage and drive to follow his dreams to become a paralympic athlete; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Tharon be congratulated for his significant achievement as a winner of two silver medals in the swimming competition at the Rio de Janeiro paralympic games; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to Tharon Drake.

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