The Quad-City Sports Center is the new layover spot between Europe and Los Angeles for a British figure skating team.

Stacey Kemp and David King, the British national champions each of the past four years, stopped in Davenport last week on their way to the World Championships in Los Angeles, which begin today.

While here, Kemp and King worked out with local skaters Elizabeth Harb and Patryk Szalasny. The group struck a relationship during the Polish National competition, and Harb and Szalasny offered the British pair a place to stay and train for the week leading up to their next competition.

“We took them up on their offer,” King said.

During the Polish Nationals, Harb and Szalasny finished third and qualified for the national team. Kemp and King, who work with a club in Torun, Poland, performed as guest skaters.

Kemp and King, who spent the week with the Harb family, also attended the Quad-City Flames’ game Friday at the i wireless Center before flying to L.A. on Saturday.

The British skaters’ goal for the World competition is to qualify for the Olympics, King said. There will be 25 pairs skating, and the top 16 qualify for a trip to Vancouver in 2010. Last year, Kemp and King finished 15th.

“At the start of the season, we were looking at top 10, but Stacey got glandular fever at the start of the season, and we lost 10 weeks of training,” King said. “So now it’s just to qualify this year.”

Having the chance to work out with another team allows Harb and Szalasny to learn new techniques, Harb said. But this past week won’t be the last time the group sees each other. The foursome will be reunited when Harb and Szalasny travel to Poland for three months of training in June.

Harb and Szalasny have taken on Kemp and King’s coach, Mariusz Siudek, who was a champion while skating with his wife, Dorota, before turning to coaching.

“Right now he’s the best coach in Poland,” Szalasny said. “He was top five in the world when he was skating.”

World Figure Skating ChampionshipsWhen: Tuesday and Wednesday

TV: Oxygen network

To learn more: KempandKing.com or Harb-Szalasny.com