OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Ocala swimming legend, Newton A. Perry, will be honored for his outstanding contributions to swimming, film and military training, with a plaque on Downtown Ocala’s Walk of Fame. January 6, 2026, was declared Newton A. Perry Day, by the City of Ocala. Mayor Ben Marciano delivered a proclamation lauding the famed swimmer as a Hometown Hero at the Ocala City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026.
Perry was raised and educated in Ocala and Marion County and graduated from Ocala High School at age 14. Perry taught swimming lessons at Silver Springs for 25 cents, and at age 16 he became Ocala High School’s swim coach and a celebrated athlete.
Perry’s family moved to Ocala in 1922. He would walk six miles on a dirt road to Silver Springs and swim every day. When he graduated eighth grade, he was told by his English teacher that he wouldn’t amount to anything, and he may as well drop out of school; taking his teacher’s advice, he did three years of manual labor, hauling some of the brick that was used at Osceola Middle School…