ROCKINGHAM — Making a splash in Thursday’s meet with several personal bests, a veteran of the Richmond Senior High School boys’ swimming team finds himself in the spotlight.
Senior swimmer Cole Thrower, who has been with the swim program since his freshman year, is the Official Richmond County Male Student-Athlete of the Week sponsored by Mabry’s Drug & Home Care.
With his second career selection secured, Thrower was a big part of the Raiders’ season-high in points during the team’s second Mid-South Conference meet of the season.
Athletic Profile: Cole Thrower
Year: Senior
Winter sport: Swimming
Events: 50, 100-yard freestyles; relays
Varsity experience: 4 seasons
Other sports: Soccer
“CLASSROOM CREDITS” WITH COLE THROWER
Like his female counterpart this week, Thrower said he puts a lot of emphasis on his school work and success in the classroom before focusing too much on athletics. Because of that, he’s one of the top senior students at Richmond.
As the first semester draws to a close and finals week is underway, Thrower is getting ahead thanks to being involved in Richmond’s dual enrollment program with Richmond Community College.
What he called a major benefit, Thrower is earning college credits while still in high school. His plan is to attend college and pursue a career in engineering.
This semester, Thrower is taking Chemistry 151, Math 271 and Philosophy 240 at RichmondCC. His one class at Richmond is Economics and Personal Finance Honors, which he must take in order to graduate.
Between the first two nine-week periods, Thrower made the A honor roll and he also has passing marks in his college courses.
When the spring semester starts after the new year, Thrower will take Chemistry 152, Economics 251 and another college class at RichmondCC. To close his high school graduation requirements, he’ll also take English IV Honors at Richmond.
Perhaps his most impressive academic feat, however, is that Thrower is currently ranked No. 3 out of 406 students in Richmond’s graduating class of 2026. His weighted grade point average is 4.611.
Involved in other activities at Richmond, Thrower is an active member of National Beta Club and National Honor Society. He served as a junior marshal and has also played soccer for four years.
“MAKING A SPLASH” WITH COLE THROWER
As one of the longest tenured members of the swim team, Thrower has shouldered the responsibility of being a leader in and out of the pool this year. He put some of his best swimming on display during Richmond’s most recent meet.
The Raiders, whose roster is smaller than in previous years, recorded 101 points in their MSC meet at the James A. Leach Aquatic Center last Thursday. That was a season-high in scoring, contributed to most by Thrower, who had a single-meet career-high 28 points.
Competing in two individual events and one relay, Thrower started his career performance in the 50-yard freestyle. He swam the lap in the pool in 27.63 seconds, his fastest time in the event this season. That placed him fourth overall and added 15 points.
Continuing to dominate in the sprint events, Thrower followed that with a sixth-place time of 1:03.47 in the 100-yard freestyle. Taking 1.37 seconds off last week’s time, it was a new PR for him and an additional 13 points for the Raiders.
Thrower’s final event of the meet was the 200-yard freestyle relay. Swimming in the anchor spot, he helped the Raiders to a season-best time of 2:18.73. Finishing sixth overall, that added 26 points to the Raiders’ overall score.
Richmond will return to the pool following the new year for another conference meet Jan. 8.
“RAPID RESPONSE” VIDEO WITH COLE THROWER
The Richmond Observer will publish two more Official Richmond County Student-Athletes of the Week next week.
