Ice-skating rinks in Philadelphia area have hosted champions, welcome novices

The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are still a little more than a year off, but figure skaters are gearing up this week for the big event.

The pool of likely Olympians should emerge at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which opened Sunday in Omaha, Neb., and continue through this weekend. You can catch the action on NBC10 from 3 to 6 p.m. and 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday and 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Or you can mark the occasion by lacing up a pair of skates and following in the tracings of some of the many elite skaters who train or teach in the Philadelphia area. If you show up at one of these rinks in the early morning, you may even see them practicing.

Nearly every competitive skater represents a club, such as the Philadelphia Skating Club & Humane Society in Ardmore, the first skating club in the country.

"The club dates back to February 1861," said Mary Mycek, the rink's office manager. "We've been in this location in Ardmore since 1938."

The Humane Society started as a separate club in 1770. It worked not with dogs and cats, but with people who crashed through the ice while skating on the not-quite-solid Schuylkill.

Over the years, Scott Hamilton, Dick Button, and Todd Eldredge have trained at the club. By Monday morning, the club already had a 2013 national medal, when Sammi Wren and Alexey Shchepetov earned the bronze medal in novice dance.

Philadelphia Skating Club is a private club, but offers public sessions from 8 to 10 p.m. Fridays. $10 general admission, skate rental $5. Information: 610-642-8700 or www.pschs.org.

IceWorks in Aston was the training rink for the third-, fourth-, and fifth-place ice dancers from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics - Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, and Italians Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali.

At this year's Nationals, IceWorks had three teams in competition - Ginna Hoptman and Pavel Filchenkov in senior dance, Julia Biechler and Damian Dodge in junior dance, and Kristen Jennings and Cody Dolkiewicz in novice pairs. Kristen and Cody train with Natalie "Kim" Seybold-Catron, who skated pairs with her brother Wayne in the 1988 Olympics. Ginna and Pavel's coaches are Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov, who won gold at the 1980 Olympics in ice dancing.

Besides figure skating and hockey, the rink hosted the 2012 national curling championships and will be home to the 2014 nationals, too. "Our opening ceremony is the week after Olympics are over," said Anthony Lorusso, who works in marketing and advertising for the rink and is cochair of the 2014 event. (Curling isn't offered regularly at the rink, but special events can be arranged.)

IceWorks offers a restaurant with bar, Icersize fitness classes, and learn-to-skate classes. The rink also has daily public sessions: $10 to $12 general admission, free under 4; skate rentals $1. Information: 610-497-2200 or www.iceworks.net.

Skating Club of Wilmington has hosted lots of top competitors over the years, most famously Kitty and Peter Carruthers, silver medalists in pairs at the 1984 Olympics. It is the home club of the 2012 U.S. champion, Ashley Wagner. She still represents the club but trains in California. Priscilla Hill, who coaches at the Wilmington club, is a two-time national medalist and world competitor and trained Johnny Weir for many years.

The club has public sessions Wednesday and Friday nights and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. The $5 to $10 admission fee includes skate rental. Information: 302-656-5005 or www.wilmicesk8.com.

Remember the waitress and the truck driver who competed in pairs at the 1992 Olympics? The truck driver, Rocky Marval, who skated with Calla Urbanski, is rink manager and coach at the Igloo Ice Rink in Mount Laurel. Marval's wife, Isabelle Brasseur, also teaches at the rink. She skated pairs for Canada with Lloyd Eisler, and won bronze in the '92 and '94 Olympics and gold in the 1993 World Championships. Their daughter, Gabriella Marvaldi, is skating intermediate pairs with Kyle Hogeboom this week in Omaha.

The Igloo has public sessions Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. General admission is $8, children $4; skate rental $2. Information: 856-638-0801 or www.skateigloo.com.

Other local rinks worth trying:

Wissahickon Skating Club in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia is a private club, but has public sessions on Friday nights. General admission is $9; skate rental $3. Information: 215-247-1759 or www.wissskating.com.

Many champions have trained at the University of Delaware, most prominent 2006 world champion Kimmie Meissner. Public sessions are held there Friday through Sunday. General admission is $8, children $5; skate rental $3. Information: 302-831-2868 or 302-831-2868 or www.udel.edu/icearena.

Skate at lunchtime Monday, Wednesday, or Friday at the Class of 1923 Rink at the University of Pennsylvania, when the rink has sessions from noon to 1:30 p.m. There are also weekend public sessions from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday and 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday. General admission is $5 on weekdays, $7 on weekends; skate rental $3. Information: 215-898-1923 or www.business-services.upenn.edu/icerink.

The Blue Cross River Rink at Penn's Landing offers seasonal outdoor skating until March 3, with public sessions daily. General admission is $9; skate rental $4; parking $12. Information: 215-925-7465 or www.riverrink.com.

The Flyers Skate Zone has locations in Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsauken, Voorhees, and Atlantic City. Times and admission prices vary. For information by location, check www.flyersskatezone.com.

The Skatium, a Havertown rink owned and operated by Haverford Township, offers daily public sessions. General admission $8, $6 for children under 6; skate rental $2. Information: 610-853-2226 or www.haverfordtownship.com/department/?fDD=17-0.