Vilas skating community mourns D.C. crash victim

The North Woods skating community has been mourning the loss of skating coach, peer and friend Alexandr Kirsanov, known better as “Sasha,” one of the 67 victims killed after a plane collided with a Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River last month.

Kirsanov, who had competed for the U.S., Russia and Azerbaijan before his retirement in 2004, had been helping coach camps for the Eagle River Figure Skating Club since 2013.

“He was super bubbly and drove kids to get the best out of them; he had a knack for making them have fun and also to learn,” Jacqui Monge, a director with the Eagle River Figure Skating Club, said. “He was a peer and a mentor… Sasha would coach kids regardless of skill level, some of which have become skating coaches themselves. Many coaches (with the Eagle River Recreation Association) were kids that he coached — he coached kids who became coaches.”

Despite visiting only a few camps every year, Monge said that the impact he had on students, coaches, and the skating community alike had been great.
“This was a great loss and will be felt for years to come,” she said.

The Eagle River Figure Skating Club held their own little memorial service for Kirsanov last week at the Dome in Eagle River, where skaters dedicated an evening to paying tribute to those affected by the fatal collision and reflecting on memories of Kirsanov as a coach and skater.

“The memories he left are profound and we will be forever grateful for the opportunity we had to be part of his skating journey,” said a Facebook post written by the organization.

Kirsanov was on a flight carrying athletes and coaches from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. The tragedy is one of the deadliest American aircraft disasters in over 20 years.