UPDATE
Former Apex Freestyle Club member Andi Naude competed in the Freestyle Ski World Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain by placing 13th in moguls on Wednesday and ninth in the dual moguls on Thursday. In a press release, Freestyle Canada stated she had a standout season, as she captured four podiums. The press release also said that on any given day, it seems that Naude is capable of finding her way onto the podium and is one to watch in the lead up to the Olympics.
Andi Naude summed up achieving her goal of being selected for the Freestyle Ski World Championships as “awesome.”
The Penticton native and product of the Apex Freestyle Club joins fellow teammates Mikaël Kingsbury, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Philippe Marquis, Chloé Dufour-Lapointe, Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Simon Pouliot-Cavanagh, Audrey Robichaud, Laurent Dumais and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe in Sierra Nevada, Spain for the championship, which is on the FIS competition calendar every two years.
“I definitely didn’t have the greatest start to the season,” said Naude. “I had a not-so-great result in Ruka (16th) at the World Cup opener. I had a pretty bad crash in training prior to the Lake Placid World Cup (18th). It was not the start I was hoping for.”
Things turned around in Val St. Come, where she earned a silver medal. On Feb. 4, Naude reached the podium again with another silver, followed by two bronze-medal performances in Pyeongchang, Korea and Tawazako, Japan on Feb. 11 and 18, respectively. Naude carried the confidence of a strong offseason of training and trusting the process.
“I put down all the hard work and show that off to the judges. It has paid off I think,” said Naude, who has enjoyed a week off with her parents prior to the World Championships on March 8 and 9. “Just having a really good season so far. Qualifying was really, really cool.”
In the world standings, Naude ranks fourth, 10 points behind Justine. Naude’s performance in Japan put her on the podium for three consecutive competitions. She talked about keeping the momentum going as she felt she was on top of her game. Naude didn’t worry about results.
“I was focusing more on what I did well the week before. How can I improve on that,” she said. “I think that really worked for me. The last week in China I didn’t make it to the podium, but I continued with that good skiing.”
Naude is looking forward to the competition and getting back on her skis as she has been able to refresh herself after spending time with family. The schedule has been busy with 11 competitions.
“I think I’m going to come into competition with a really clear state of mind,” she said. “I think it’s super important. Having down time is so valuable.”