POULSBO — Local student Alden Denny is making a splash in competitive kayaking.

Denny was featured, along with fellow North Kitsap resident Matt Kurle, in July’s issue of Boys’ Life, where both youngsters were shown practicing and competing in kayaking, a sport they have learned from local teacher — and father of Olympian Scott Shipley — Dick Shipley.

Denny, 16, has competed in the League of Northwest White Water races. So far, he has competed in 16 races, with numerous good finishes, including several first places.

But the race he is proudest of is one where he wasn’t first to reach the finish line.

Denny pointed to a competition earlier this summer, the Middle Fork of Snoqualmie, as his best. He finished fourth but beat out a pair of members of the Canadian National Team in the process.

“That was my best race, considering the level of competition,” he said.

Denny first became interested in competitive kayaking two and a half years ago, as a Boy Scout, when his troop was learn how to canoe, and arranged for Dick Shipley to help teach them.

After that, he was drawn to the sport of kayaking.

“It was something out of the ordinary,” said Denny. “I’m not a team-sport person. This is more individual, more your own achievement.”

After training sessions on the Poulsbo waterfront, as well as the Elwha, Green, and Cedar rivers, Denny learned some of the tricks and subtleties of the sport.

“It’s hard to read the river — being able to be upriver from a rapid and knowing what’s down it,” he explained. “It’s about picking the right path.”

Denny, who trains two or three times a week, said he learned a lot from Shipley. “He really respects you. He respects your ability,” he remarked.

Denny soon traded in his plastic boat for a Kevlar-graphite racing craft, and raised his level of competition.

He competed in the Junior Olympics last summer, where he finished 17th, and plans to compete in the same event when it comes around again, as well as the Junior Senior Nationals and the Junior Team trials.

In the meantime, he works at Olympic Outdoor Center on the Poulsbo waterfront and can sometimes be found there practicing.

“When you’re out kayaking, it’s almost as if you can succeed or fail, but there’s no pressure but what you put on yourself,” said Denny, who attends West Sound Academy.