Figure skaters in Stamford appear to be stuck between a rock and an icy hard place.

Here's the rock

Figure skaters must practice a lot, and the city rink, Terry Conners at Cove Island Park, is the most affordable. That's important because, besides rink fees, figure skaters must pay coaches.

Since most figure skaters are students, they need after-school and weekend time on the ice, which is when just about everyone else wants it. There is a lot of competition for prime-time ice.

Figure skating is individual so, unlike hockey, they have to split group rink fees with fewer people, meaning a figure skater would pay a bigger portion of the group fee than a hockey player.

That's even more true since figure skaters need a wide berth to practice jumps and spins, and safety concerns limit how many share the ice at once.

Here's the hard place

The city must charge enough to cover the cost of operating Terry Conners, and it must set fees and times that are fair to all who use the rink. Besides figure skaters, there are synchronized skaters, high school hockey, Stamford Youth Hockey, men's and women's hockey, public skating sessions and instructional programs for children.

Recognizing the difficulties faced by the figure skaters, the city for five years has not charged the Skating Club of Southern Connecticut the hourly rate for groups that use the ice in prime time -- $350.

Instead, the city held open about 70 minutes of ice time for figure skaters on Tuesday afternoons, and the same on Thursday afternoons, individually charging resident skaters $11, and non-residents $25.

Here's the squeeze:

"The rink is self-sustaining and we are under pressure to meet goals," said Mickey Docimo, director of parks and recreation in Stamford. "We give up $200 to $250 an hour for every hour they are there. They were extended a special rate to give them a chance to get on their feet, but now we need to charge them what we charge everyone else."

It will be difficult for the Skating Club of Southern Connecticut to raise the $700 needed to keep 140 minutes of freestyle ice time each week. Skating club President Kari Ryan could not be reached by press time, but Rose Nanista, a coach and board member, said the club is "a small fish in a big pond."

"I understand the rink needs to make money, but we can't do what hockey can do," Nanista said. "We don't have enough people. In a school, do you drop the chess club because it has only 10 kids in it? It's still a positive thing."

Because figure skating is not a major sport like hockey or baseball, the club, established in 1941, must draw on surrounding towns for membership, Nanista said, but "most of our skaters at Terry Conners are Stamford residents."

Besides ice time and coaches, clubs must cover the costs of activities required by U.S. Figure Skating, the national governing body for the sport.

"There are more rinks now than there used to be, and people who don't live in Stamford can get ice time cheaper elsewhere," Nanista said.

If the club paid the city $700 per week for the two hours and 20 minutes, there's no guarantee skaters would then buy the time from the club, Nanista said.

The city tried to understand, Docimo said, but six or seven years ago the club owed the rink $14,000. The club paid it back with cash and services, Nanista said.

The rink cannot be accountable for the club's problems, rink manager Denis McKiernan said.

"They were asked to follow the policy, and they could not follow it," McKiernan said. "The fee they're paying is unrealistic. It's become a bad habit. We're not taking anything away -- they get right of first refusal for that ice when it's time to sign up for it in a few weeks. But they have to pay. If a smaller group is using the ice during prime time and paying much less, it becomes a matter of fairness."

A bigger group, though, pays less. Instead of $350 an hour, Stamford Youth Hockey pays $260, because "they rent 70 percent of the ice here during the winter," McKiernan said. "They commit to that amount of time well in advance, which is how we have to run the business because there's such a demand."

The club "just doesn't have the numbers," McKiernan said. Only seven to 12 figure skaters use the ice during the freestyle slots, he said, though the club says it's more. Sixteen were counted Tuesday.

The rink, though, is in good financial shape, McKiernan said. Despite the recession, "we're $10,000 ahead, but we should be more ahead than that because this was a winter Olympic year," which usually generates interest in skating and hockey, he said. Still, the goal of the rink is to provide a recreational service, not earn a profit, he said.

Here's the result:

The 9-year-old Borsellino triplets laced up their skates Tuesday afternoon sitting on benches in the chill just outside the rink. On the ice, the figure skaters, all girls, jumped, spun and practiced their routines, some humming their music to themselves. High school girls from the synchronized skating team flew around the ice, somehow avoiding the kindergartners who practiced skating backwards.

Sydney, Madison and Alexandra Borsellino began figure skating when they were 6. They tried other sports and didn't like them, but all three love to skate.

"I get to make friends and do a lot of jumps and spins," Sydney said.

"I get to do the thing I'm good at and I get to improve every day," said Madison, who hopes to join the Ice Capades.

"I like the coaches, I like to practice, I like to compete," Alexandra said. "It's a really good thing to do."

Their mother, Michele, said it costs $48 a week for all three girls to skate two hours. The coach costs $40 for a half-hour. If rink fees rise much more, the girls won't be able to take part, Borsellino said.

"All it would do is squeeze out Stamford residents. This is about what we can afford," she said.If the freestyle sessions end, coaches teaching at Terry Conners would go to a rink she couldn't afford. "I know the city isn't making money on these two hours, but isn't it making money on the rink overall?" she asked.

Here's a possible outcome:

Dan McCabe, a Stamford attorney and vice president of the club's board of directors, said he is trying to meet with Docimo. They worked together when McCabe was corporation counsel for the city.

His daughter has been a member of the synchronized skating team for 11 years, and the benefits were immeasurable, McCabe said. "It was her varsity sport," he said.

About 1,000 children play hockey at Terry Conners, and 150 to 200 are figure skaters, McCabe has said. He thinks Docimo has the city's best interests at heart.

"People of good will can strike a deal," McCabe said. "The city doesn't have a lot of staff, they have to set a price and they have to be fair, so I understand where they are coming from. But there has to be a resolution to this and I think we'll find it."

TURIN, Italy - Patrick Chan of Toronto won the silver medal Thursday in the men's competition at the ISU world figure skating championships.

Chan, 19, totalled 159.42 in Thursday's free skate to finish with 247.22 points, good enough to win his second straight silver at the worlds.

Daisuke Takahashi of Japan won gold with 257.70 points after a stellar free skate that earned 168.40 points from the judges.

Brian Joubert of France, fourth heading into the free skate, scored 154.04 to leapfrog Jeremy Abbott of the U.S. and finish third with 241.74 points.

Kevin Reynolds of Coquitlam, B.C., was 11th, with 216.58 points.

Earlier, Canada's Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue are one step closer to a world figure skating championship.

The Olympic gold medallists from last month's Games in Vancouver won Thursday's original dance portion of the ice dance competition, and hold down top spot heading into Friday's free dance.

Moir, of Ilderton, Ont., and Virtue, of London, Ont., lead with 114.40 points, with Charlie White and Meryl Davis of the United States in second with 112.54 points. Italy's Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali are third with 100.01 points.

``I don't think we quite had the magic that we had at the Olympic Games, but we are very pleased with the performance,'' Moir told Agence France-Presse of the duo's Spanish Flamenco routine. ``We love skating this program and that really helped us in this performance. It's sad to have to leave it behind.''

Added Virtue: ``We worked a lot with this program off the ice, with Flamenco dancers that lived and trained in Spain. A lot of that passion that they taught us now comes from within.

``But we're already thinking about (Friday's) skate now.''

Virtue, 20, and Moir, 22, are the first North Americans to win Olympic ice dance gold and are trying to become just the second Canadian duo to win the ice dancing world championship. Shae-Lynn Bourne of Chatham, Ont., and Victor Kraatz of Vancouver were gold medallists in 2003.

The top four couples remain in the same position they were following Tuesday's compulsory dance.

Moir and Virtue won the bronze medal at the 2009 world championships and the silver in 2008.

Paul Poirier of Unionville, Ont., and Vanessa Crone of Aurora, Ont., were seventh on Thursday to move up into eighth spot overall with 89.08 points.