Ocala proud

Inline Speed Skating Coach Renee Hidebrand, top right, poses with skaters, James Sadler, 19, top left, James Tackett, 11, bottom left, and Brady Ankney, 13, bottom right, during their workout on the road between the Ocala Business Park at Ocala International Airport and the Ocala Regional Sportsplex in Ocala on Feb. 15. Hildebrand coached Winter Olympics Team U.S.A. inline speed skaters Brittany Bowe, Joey Mantia and Erin Jackson, who are all from Ocala.

Boy, Ocala, do you have a story to tell.

It’s a story that rings out like a bell here in town, and all over the state, and all over the country, and yes, all over the world. Ocala, you’re worldwide – as the kids say – in a whole new way.

In a good way.

Where do we start this story? Is the first scene in Beijing, with one of your own, Erin Jackson, on the starting line of her Olympics speedskating race? Do we zoom in on her wide grin as she’s just become the first Black woman to win long-track speedskating gold?

Or maybe the first scene is the grandmother whose crazy-cool methods helped launch Erin and two other Ocala kids to international prominence. Maybe the scene is this hard-edged softie named Renee, sitting awake in the middle of the night, bathed in the blue light of her TV screen, watching her mentee race for glory halfway around the world.

Actually, no. Here’s the first scene: It’s a bunch of eight-year-olds from Blessed Trinity at a roller skating birthday party at a rink here in town. It’s 1996.

There is a little girl named Brittany Bowe, and she likes the four-wheeled skates. She zips around the shiny wooden rink and the grandmother – who is not yet a grandmother, since it’s the ‘90s – can’t help but notice how fearless she is.

Renee walks up to Brittany’s parents and asks if the girl might want to try speedskating. The parents have no idea what that is.

Why is this scene happening in Ocala in the first place? Well, that’s a good story, too. Brittany’s parents are from New York. They came to Florida for spring break and they decided they wanted to look for teaching jobs. They applied all over the state and Marion County was first to say, hey, welcome to Ocala. That’s how this adventure began – because in the words of Brittany’s mom, Debbie: “Marion County was the first to give us an opportunity.”

So Brittany learned inline skating. Renee was into roller derby, but when the wheels went from two-by-two to one-by-four, she switched and started coaching. She discovered that inline training made for better speedskating, since you could stay on the skates longer and strengthen the leg muscles more. Renee hated the cold, and never learned to ice skate. (She’s a Floridian!) But now, she didn’t need the cold. She could coach ice from the Ocala heat – outdoors on the track at Brick City Adventure Park.

Renee recruited more Ocala kids, including Joey Mantia – who would become an Olympic medalist in Beijing as well. Then she met Erin’s mom in a Waffle House. That’s right: Olympic careers were launched from a roller rink birthday party and a Waffle House. Erin didn’t even step onto the ice until she was 16 years old. She would make an Olympic team after only four months of on-ice training. That’s how good she was, and that’s how good Renee was.

This group went beyond just the usual athletic talent. Erin studied hard, earning her way into the University of Florida for material science and engineering. Joey taught himself piano by watching YouTube. Renee spent her days working with the elderly at The Villages. (She said she wasn’t too disappointed about not going to Beijing because “they need me here.”) And Brittany had a penchant for generosity. When she won a medal at the Sunshine State Games as a little girl, she asked her mom if she could give the prize to a child with special needs who finished 10 minutes behind the rest of the kids.

“This is the best memory,” Debbie says, “of my whole life.”

It would be a sign of things to come. During trials for these Olympics several weeks ago, Erin slipped in the 500-meter qualifier, and finished third. Only the top two can proceed to the Games, so Erin was out. But Brittany had an idea.

According to Debbie, Brittany spoke to her friend that night: “I went up to Erin and said, you should sleep well tonight. You will go to the Winter Olympics. You deserve it.”

Brittany, who had won the race, decided to step aside. That meant Erin could chase her dream in Beijing.

Erin Jackson of the United States celebrates after winning speed skating women’s 500m at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, China, February 13, 2022. Photo by Giuliano Bevilacqua/Abaca/Sipa USA(Sipa via AP Images)

So when you saw Erin proudly displaying the stars and stripes as a newly-minted gold medalist, you didn’t just see the culmination of years of hard work. You saw the culmination of years of friendship, years of selflessness, years of community. You saw all for one, and one for all.

Remember this, Ocala, in the months and years to come. In 2022, you were a symbol of togetherness, of opportunity, of common goals and common pride. Your story is one of victory, yes, but also something more.

“Ocala is as southern hospitality as the saying could be,” Debbie says. “There’s just kind people — a family-oriented place.”

The southern town with no ice rink and three Winter Olympians, bound by a common purpose and a lot of heart. It’s quite a story, and one that Ocala can tell forever.

Paul Fitzpatrick, Brittany Bowe, Joey Mantia, Erin Jackson