‘Clouded in tragedy‘: KC skating coach reflects on loss of coach known since childhood
The deaths of more than a dozen members of the U.S. figure skating community in a plane crash Wednesday night hit close to home for the entire skating community, including one Kansas City area figure skating coach with fond memories of one of the victims.
Bonnie Lewis, a coach with the Kansas City Figure Skating Club originally from the Washington D.C. area, said she first met Inna Volyanskaya when she was around eight years old. Lewis also skated with Volyanskaya’s daughter, and her childhood best friend had Volyanskaya as a coach.
“I saw (the passenger list) and when I saw Inna’s name; my heart just stopped,” she said. “It’s honestly still shocking. The skating community is such a small community. It’s a small world and it’s very close knit. It’s just gonna take a long time to recover from this.”
Lewis kept in touch with Volyanskaya through Facebook, and remembered seeing one of Volyanskaya’s students was going to the National Development Camp. She remembered feeling thrilled for her.
“She was just a great coach, but then also just like a really nice person too,” Lewis said.
Lewis recalled, as a child, Volyanskaya coming up to her and her sister and gifting them a figure skating dress.
“We couldn’t buy one ourselves, so she was like, ‘Hey, I have this figure skating dress and I thought of you.’ Just out of the blue, this random act of kindness. We still have the dress,” she said.
Volyanskaya, an internationally decorated figure skater turned coach, was one of the passengers on board American Eagle flight 5342 from Wichita to Washington D.C. Wednesday which collided mid-air with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River while preparing to land. No one is believed to have survived.
Volyanskaya was in Wichita attending the the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, held from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26. She stayed after to attend the National Development Camp with one of her skaters.
“We are devastated to hear the news of American Eagle flight 5342. Our thoughts and prayers are with our skating family during this difficult time,” The Washington Figure Skating Club, where she coached, posted on Facebook Thursday morning.
Volyanskaya and her skating partner, Valery Spiridonov, won international accolades for their pairs programs, including silver at the 1980 St. Ivel International, gold at the 1980 Blue Swords, silver at the 1981 Prague Skate, gold at the 1982 Grand Prix International St. Gervais and gold at the 1982 Nebelhorn Trophy.
After retiring from competition, Volyanskaya and Spiridonov performed in ice shows. Later she began coaching in Virginia, where she taught skaters of all ages and levels over the years, including medalists at the Regional, Sectional and National levels, according to her coach bio with the Washington Figure Skating Club.
A mother whose daughter trained with Inna as her coach posted on Facebook Thursday that her daughter had been looking forward to seeing her for their lesson Thursday morning.
“The bond they had was so special. You have to have that bond to do this crazy sport. Inna pushed my child and made her work hard and believe in herself,” the mother said.
In the post, she recalled driving Inna to the airport, and said she was glad they were able to hug her one last time.
“My kid keeps screaming no Inna no. I don’t know if she will be the same. Please pray for my sweet baby and all of her friends that she lost on the plane and their amazing families. We will never forget you Inna Volyanskaya . We love you forever. Thank you for believing in my child.”
Many of the skaters on the flight were part of the National Development Team, a training program for top juvenile, intermediate and novice figure skaters held after the U.S. Championships.
Lewis said being from Kansas, lots of her students and colleagues went to watch the prestigious skating championship.
“The camp and the people who are on the plane are really truly like the next generation of skaters,” Lewis said.
Lewis said she couldn’t help making a comparison to the plane crash in 1961 that killed the entire U.S. figure skating team on their way to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. That crash also killed all passengers, including team members, officials and family members.
“We (have now) a plane crash where we lost a number of talented skaters, coaches and their parents, and young skaters too,” she said. “... For them at Nationals, this is the end of their season. This is like the highlight, to make it to the national development camp is a huge accomplishment. To have it clouded in tragedy is awful.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 4:54 PM.
