A Yukon whitewater paddler is in Brazil preparing for the junior world championships.

Pelly Vincent-Braun, 16, left for Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, on Wednesday where he will be training with Team Canada in preparation for the event April 22 to 26.

The 16-member Canadian team will train on a course on the Itaipu Canal for the next two weeks.

Vincent-Braun is one of two paddlers in the junior C-1 (solo canoe) category.

The young teenager paddles in a closed canoe with a single-blade canoe paddle.

Last August, the young man made Yukon history, becoming the first whitewater paddler to crack Canada’s national junior slalom roster.

In the past, local paddlers have cracked the national freestyle team roster, but never in slalom.

For his efforts, Vincent-Braun was named 2014 national/territorial male athlete of the year by Sport Yukon.

Vincent-Braun has had a busy spring preparing for the world juniors.

In February and March, he took part in two training camps and three races in Chilliwack, B.C.

In late February, he won a flatwater slalom race in Fort Langley, putting together the fastest run amongst solo canoes and kayaks.

Then late last month, the youngster won the junior class during a race in a boater-cross race in the Chilliwack River’s Tamihi Rapids, followed up by a second consecutive win in a slalom race.

Vincent-Braun, who is named after the Pelly River, grew up on the water.

His father Trevor Braun is the coach of the Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club and owns a small paddling company, while his mother, Jane Vincent, is a former Olympic cross-country skier.

In 2013, Vincent-Braun said he has an Olympic dream.

“My mom was in the Olympics for cross-country skiing,” he told the Star. “So it would be pretty cool to go for paddling.”

Alongside his paddling accomplishments, Vincent-Braun has also competed in two Arctic Winter Games in cross-country ski and snowshoe biathlon.

The 2015 International Canoe Federation World Championships are expected to draw 300 athletes from 45 different countries.

In a press release, Vincent-Braun thanked the Yukon Government, Yukon Canoe and Kayak Club, Air North, and all of his supporters for helping him get to Brazil.