NAMES IN THE NEWS : Champ Skater Breaks the Ice

British ice skating champion Christopher Dean announced his engagement today to French Canadian skater Isabelle Duchesnay.

Dean, 32, met his 26-year-old fiancee nine years ago and has helped choreograph some of her skating routines. He proposed to her last week in Germany, where she is training for the 1992 Olympics.

No wedding date has been set.

“There’s a bit of a bug at the minute with everyone getting married--we’ve all joined the same club,” Dean said.

Dean’s skating partner, Jayne Torvill, last month disclosed her engagement to Phil Christensen, a 35-year-old American sound engineer. They met when he worked on the Torvill and Dean tour of the United States last year.

Torvill and Dean won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics for Britain.