Alle-Kiski Valley natives find joy through skydiving

Andrew Kenny finds peace of mind among the clouds.

It’s just that it comes while jumping out of an airplane and descending to Earth as a competitive skydiver.

“It was just something I had always wanted to do,” said Kenny, 34, a Plum native.

Some 2,300 jumps after his first skydive in 2010, Kenny, now of Pittsburgh’s Swisshelm Park neighborhood, captured third place in the overall wingsuit performance at the U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships in September.

In the wingsuit performance, competitors earn a single score from their skills in three tasks: time, distance and speed.

Jumpers wear suits designed to increase their glide, making them appear to soar like a bird through the sky at horizontal speeds nearing 200 mph, according to the USPA.

In acrobatics events, skydivers perform an aerial display of their flying skills before a panel of judges.

The championships were held at Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford, N.C., where more than 600 skydivers competed in 18 events.

Kenny, who works for self-driving vehicle company Aurora Innovation in the Strip District, first started skydiving in the summer of 2010, doing a tandem jump with friends. In a tandem skydive, the skydiver is harnessed to an instructor, who guides the student through the jump from start to finish.

A year later, he did another tandem jump.

The rest is history.

Now, he averages between 200 and 300 jumps per year. He has done about 1,500 jumps with his wife, Melissa, 32. They met in 2015 at Skydive PA in Grove City.

“Getting to fly with my wife is super enjoyable,” he said.

Melissa, a Cheswick native and a pre-kindergarten teacher at Shady Side Academy, first skydived as a 21st birthday gift from her parents in 2014. She skydived at sunset and said the experience was “breathtaking” and “amazing.”

“I love it so much, and I never stopped,” she said.

Since then, Melissa estimates she has done about 1,900 jumps.

“It’s just a really beautiful, surreal experience,” she said.

The pair is sponsored by the Cleveland Skydiving Center.

Like Andrew, Melissa said her favorite part of skydiving is being able to do it with her spouse. She said her goal is to medal in the acrobatic wingsuit competition with her husband.

The skydiving pair complement each other well, Melissa said. When planning jumps, Andrew brings more of an analytic perspective while she’s more artistic and creative.

“The motivation to keep progressing is fun,” she said.

Melissa wasn’t aware of any husband-wife competitive skydivers in the United States, but she said there is one from Norway. She hopes more couples get involved in the sport.

“We’re in love with it,” she said. “It feels like a big part of who I am.”