Inline Skating Notebook

Area skating coach draws an international crowd

By C.J. Risak of STAR-BANNER

It's been kind of busy for Renee Hildebrand. And it doesn't look like it'll let up anytime soon.

Hildebrand is a coach. The sport she specializes in: inline speed skating. Her successes have been numerous, on a local, national and international scale, and the more success she brings the more she's in demand.

The Belleview resident has coached Ocala's Brittany Bowe and Joey Mantia for 11 years. Last August, the pair combined to win 10 gold medals, each setting a new world record, at the Inline Speed Skating World Championships in Cali, Columbia. That came a month after each had captured 3 gold medals apiece at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Certainly Hildebrand could be proud of their success, but there was more for her to relish. She had been hired to coach the Belgian team at the World Championships, and her impact was immediate.

"They hadn't won a gold medal at the World Championships in 11 years," Hildebrand said while waiting for three of her proteges to complete their training session at Greenway Trails Park. "Last year in Cali, they won 2 golds, a silver and a bronze."

Hildebrand will continue to coach the Belgian team for two more years (at least), but that won't be the limit of her duties. The three athletes she waited for at Greenway Trails had a multinational background; only Jacob Richardson, a 15-year-old seeking to succeed on the junior stage, called Ocala home.

Renee Hildebrand, left, talks to members of her speed skating team during Team Florida practice at the Baseline Trailhead on Southeast Baseline Road in Ocala, Fla. on Monday, Jan. 7, 2008. Hildebrand is now also coaching athletes from Belgium, the Netherlands and Brazil. (Star-Banner Photo/NYTRENG, Bruce ACKERMAN) : Renee Hildebrand - Biography (USA Roller Sports)

Britta Vantournhout is a 24-year-old from Oostende, Belgium, who is perhaps the best of her country's senior women's speed skaters; Maurina Kroon, a 27-year-old from Hoofddorp, Netherlands, is attempting to make the transition from competitive skating on ice to inline.

Both women had traveled thousands of miles to spend three weeks in Ocala to train with Hildebrand.

"She's very famous in the skating world," said Vantournhout. "She knows a lot about different techniques."

Hildebrand's reputation has obviously spread. Certainly it started with an American flavor:

"My skaters have garnered 86 percent of the medals the U.S. has won since 2002," she noted. "Now, those were mostly by Brittany and Joey, but I've also had two others, Emily Scott and Briana Kramer."

Skaters from other nations continue to seek her services. During the Christmas break, two from Belgium, two from south Florida and two locals were in town to train with her, all staying at her house. On Feb. 9, a skater from France and another from Holland will board with her through the end of March, while five Germans visit from Feb. 16 until March 2.

Her training sessions aren't limited to her hometown. Hildebrand has made a few trips to Belgium to coach, and will do so again.

What makes her a success isn't just the physical aspect, but the mental approach to inline racing.

"Just convincing them they can do it, that they're really, really good," she said. "They've got to expect to do it."

It certainly worked with Bowe and Mantia. Last weekend, Hildebrand and her student/guests traveled to Fort Lauderdale for the Palm Beach Challenge to watch Mantia compete. It turned out to be not a big challenge for Mantia - he won 6 of the 7 races he competed in, capturing both the road and track versions of the 1,500-meter and 10-kilometer contests, as well as the 500-meter race and the marathon. He was second only in the 500 on the track, easily winning the overall gold.

That sort of achievement is what attracted Vantournhout and Kroon.

"My first goal was to come here to learn about inline skating," Kroon said, adding she wants to compete in the Dutch Championships at the end of May.

Vantournhout "wants to make the European World Team and skate really, really well." She does have added incentive; she was left home during last year's World Championships, as were all members of the Belgian senior women's team, for apparent financial reasons. Only the Belgian junior women's team went to Cali.

Cultivating the sort of focus Vantournhout is currently feeding off of is a major reason for Hildebrand's success. And, consequently, the cause of her demand worldwide.

Renee Hildebrand trains Belgians

The clinics of the American speed skating trainer Renee Hildebrand are very popular in Belgium. Some Dutch people go specifically for her to Belgium and even to Florida.

Renee Hildebrand is a well-known name in the speed skating. She is o.a. coach of world champion Joey Mantia and was the coach of Belgium in last season. That the Belgians performed so well last year was perhaps its merit. Swings for example Bart was also European champion next World Champion.

The American coach is popular in Belgium is obvious from the clinics they this week. The brief report was broadcast on the regional channel ROB TV and shows how much enthusiasm there is among the Belgians.

ROB TV

SkatePodium.comRenee Hildebrand traint Belgen (Feb. 06, 2008)