Olympic coach Peter Cain remembers his close friends, Evgenia and Vadim, as the skating world grieves the loss of beloved coaches and mentors. NBC 5’s Candace Sweat has the story.
On board American Eagle Flight 5342 were elite figure skaters, coaches, and relatives who had been at a camp in Wichita, Kansas. The Skating Club of Boston has released some of their names.
They include Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. They were coaches and 1994 World Pairs Champions. The couple also competed in two Winter Olympics, including Albertville in 1992 and Lillehammer in 1994.
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WATCH HERENBC 5 spoke with a North Texan who was close friends with them. Peter Cain sat down with us at a rink in Euless, where he coaches.
Cain said Evgenia and Vadim came to him for advice many years ago on coaching their son, Max. He coached his daughter, Ashley Cain, a two-time national champion and Olympian, so he bonded with the couple over the balance of being a parent and an effective coach.
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SIGN UP “They had reached out to us several years ago to ask us about how we coached our daughter, the relationship that we had on and off the ice, and how to separate everything, home life and skating life and everything, so we helped them a lot with that,” he said.
Cain said even before the names of the victims were released, he'd seen where the flight was coming from and just knew his friends and their athletes were likely involved. He said his daughter Ashley had taken an earlier flight back to Texas and had made it home safely.
“When we heard that the plane was from Wichita, we had a feeling that this morning when we woke, we would find out they were skaters and coaches on that flight,” said Cain.
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Cain said he last spoke to Vadim this summer in Boston. They'd shared a moment and talked about how they looked forward to seeing their children, former athletes, now excel as coaches.
“They were doing great,” Cain said. “I was actually watching Vadim and Max coach together, and they were on the ice and the energy was just phenomenal.”
In the wake of the tragedy, Cain showed up to the skating rink Thursday and pushed through hours of instruction with young athletes. His heart was hurting, though, with the rest of the skating community. He's mourning the loss of several generations of past accomplishments and great potential.
“It's just horrible, really horrible,” he said. “Just sad. The whole skating community is just really sad.”
Cain said friends and the skating community are supporting Vadim and Evgenia’s son, Max.
