Evening Times - Sep 18, 2006
KING CANOE: Polish champ who wants to fly flag for Scots
by Iain Lundy
THE man who patrols the River Clyde may have unwittingly put Scotland in Pole position to paddle to sporting glory.
George Parsonage of Glasgow Humane Society ordered a canoeist off the river because he thought it was too dangerous.
But the man "at risk" turned out to be a former junior World and European champion from Poland who amazed Mr Parsonage with an "unforgettable" display of canoeing.
Radoslaw Sikorski, along with five of his countrymen, want to compete for Scotland, which they consider an adopted homeland.
And they are so good they could end up representing us at the Commonwealth Games or Britain at the Olympics, according to Mr Parsonage.
He said: "We became friends and I told him I was happy for him to use the quay at the East Boathouse - that gives him a safe place to launch from."
Radoslaw has been in Scotland for two years and works at Darcys restaurant in Princes Square. He and his fellow Poles - all junior internationalists - are now regularly paddling the river.
Mr Parsonage added: "They they are so good they could easily represent Scotland in competition or the UK at the Olympics."
Radoslaw came to Glasgow to continue his training as a chef and between shifts at Darcys he trains hard.
The 22-year-old runs between the city centre and his home in Shawlands each day as well as clocking up almost 20 miles paddling on the Clyde.
He and his five mates - they all belonged to the same club in their home city of Poznan - train together.
He said: "When I first met George I had walked down to the river with my canoe and he spotted me placing it on the water.
"He shouted that it wasn't allowed as it was too dangerous. We started talking. Since then he has been great.
"I can no longer represent Poland. You have to spend 300 days training with other team members. I'm here so I can't do that. But I would like to compete for Scotland."