Meet the diverse class of 2022 Swim Search finalists from Sports Illustrated Swimsuit
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit unveiled its unexpectedly diverse group of women who have advanced to the next round of the brand's annual Swim Search to celebrate International Women's Day. All the wonderful women will be featured on the daily covers for all the audience to draw inspiration from. The incredibly diverse group includes cancer survivors, a former lawyer, and a NASA employee.
In recognition of Women's History Month, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit selected 14 women as finalists in the 2022 SI Swim Search competition, out of thousands of submissions. All the beautiful models will participate in a picture session in the Dominican Republic this week at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana, where the group will work with photographer Yu Tsai for a chance to be a Rookie in the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue. The finalists this year 'inspire action throughout their communities,' according to Sports Illustrated. They had stated in January 2022 that the issue would only feature ads from brands that have 'programmes to advance gender equality and drive progress for women's empowerment.' Here is the complete list of all 14 finalists of 2022!
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Ashley Byrd
Ashley Byrd was born in the little hamlet of Amite, Louisiana, and grew up in Greensburg. She is a first-generation college graduate with a degree in Criminal Justice from Southern University, where she was a member of the Jaguars' basketball team. She has a master's degree in public administration as well. She finally chose to pursue her dream of becoming a model after multiple career changes, including a stint as a construction worker. She told People that one of her first SI Swimsuit memories was when Beyoncé was on the cover in 2007. Ashley said that “Seeing this beautiful black woman on the cover really lit a fire in me.” She added, “I want to see more beautiful black women who look like me be part of this experience and this community.”
Ashley Callingbull
Ashley Callingbull is the first indigenous woman to be included in the Swimsuit Issue. Ashley is a Cree lady from the Enoch Cree Nation in the Canadian province of Alberta. Her voluntary work with community Elders and aboriginal youth demonstrates her commitment to her culture and people. She was titled Mrs. Universe 2015 and on Global Dignity Day in October 2015, she received a role model award from the United Nations. In an Instagram post, she wrote, “I feel blessed to be able to break barriers and be in spaces where others have told me I don’t belong.”
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Drew Dorsey
Drew is a host, YouTube celebrity, and model from Northern California. She's been a host for Hearst Media's Clevver Style and Uproxx's/Wom/n WMX's Worldwide and Culture Quick Bites since moving to Los Angeles to pursue a degree in Communication Studies and Journalism from Loyola Marymount University. Celebrating her Swim Search finalist position, she wrote” 'Words CANNOT describe what this feels like. Y’all listen, I don’t mean to preach, but please please don’t ever give up on your dreams. This was my second year auditioning and look what happened because I didn’t give up,” on Instagram.
Gigi Robinson
Gigi is a thought leader in the field of mental health and chronic illness advocacy for Generation Z. She's the creator of Its Gigi LLC, a creative media firm focused on ethical collaborations, and the host of the Spotify Greenroom live audio event Everything You Need Is Within, as well as a podcast host. Gigi was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) at the age of 11 and suffered from chronic pain and exhaustion and is prone to injuries. She was eventually diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and mast cell activation syndrome. After her battles, she is now a great inspiration for her followers.
Hannah Godwin
Hannah grew up in Alabama and moved to California where her dream to model kickstarted. She has been able to merge her passion for being creative into her full-time profession as a content creator. She is the creator of the Setty app, which includes a number of popular photo and video filters as well as other photo-editing functions. In the Sports Illustrated audition, she said, “I remember looking up to Sports Illustrated models just being like, ‘Gosh, I would kill to, like, feel good in my own skin.’” She added, “I finally feel like I don’t care what others think about me. I care what I think about me, and that’s something that I truly learned through Sports Illustrated.”
Hillory Fields
Hillory was born in Arcadia, Florida and was named after Hilary Clinton and Maya Angelou. She graduated from Florida A&M University with a bachelor's degree in nursing and now works as an ICU travel nurse in Los Angeles. During the pandemic, she observed how exhausted travel nurses were. As a result, she created the SBAR App, an app that allows nurses to assess and rate their travel assignments as well as the hospitals where they worked. When the finalist list was posted, Hillory said she is 'truly humbled and honored' to model for the Swimsuit Issue.
Kelly Crump
Kelly, 42, who has lived in London for the past ten years, is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 38 and has undergone six procedures and 60 rounds of chemotherapy. By 2019, her cancer had spread to her neck, lung, armpit, ribs, and spine, among other areas of her body. She began sharing her thoughts about cancer and her experiences on Instagram, and her message connected with many people. She said, “Here is the thing… having cancer and going through all this honest to god, horrible stuff and coming to terms with the fact that the odds of me dying quite young have made me stop sweating the small stuff,” and added, “It has also made me feel confident in being who I am so that I enjoy the time that I have versus worrying about pleasing others and thinking about what they might think of me.”
Lotta Hintsa
Lotta is a Finnish athlete and professional high-altitude climber. She spent the majority of her childhood in Ethiopia. She has traveled to the world's highest mountain ranges and lives a nomadic existence. Her goals are to push human limits, find new routes, and climb mountains that have never been climbed before. She's also a Miss Finland beauty pageant winner and model and says that in some ways, that's harder. She shared, “'When it comes to high-altitude climbing people always talk about getting out of your comfort zone. But for me I was most out of my comfort zone when I was competing in Miss Finland and Miss Universe pageants back in 2013.” Now that she is one of the finalists, she told People, “I live a life of a nomad, because I go where the mountains are, so all my swimsuits are in multiple locations around the world,” and added, “But there's always at least 5 at hand, no matter where I am.”
Mady Dewey
Mady co-hosts the Socially Well podcast and is the co-founder of Herd Social. She is also a TikTok lifestyle and tech content creator. After graduating from Chapman University, Mady began working in big tech and quickly realized her passion for creating content on the side. Throughout the pandemic, she realized the negative impacts of social media on her mental health and body image. After quitting big tech, she started Herd, a pressure-free photo-sharing platform for GenZ women and non-binary people. As she got into the finalists' list, she wrote on Instagram, “I firmly believe that women should go after ALL their dreams & let go of what anyone else thinks about it. For me, being apart of @si_swimsuit is doing just that - living out my wildest dreams.”
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Manju Bangalore
Manju is a scientist and is the founder of two non-profit organizations. In 2015, she established Operation Period, a youth-led, all-volunteer menstrual health organization. In honor of her father, she started a second nonprofit organization in 2020, named ‘Painting With Parkinson's’, to provide free painting kits and art lessons to anyone suffering from Parkinson's disease. Apart from this, she also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics with a minor in math from the University of Oregon. Since she was four years old, she has aspired to be an astronaut. In an interview with People, she said, “As a kid, I was often left out because of the color of my skin, my sexual orientation, and my gender. Being a part of Swim Search means I get to fully embrace the parts of me I was rejected for — and inspire others to do the same.”
Michelle Fuente Steffan
Michelle, who is from Argentina, describes herself as awkward, gregarious, and persistent, with a desire to tour the world. She considers herself to be a simple cat lover who enjoys strolling through town with a coffee mug in hand. She is a former lawyer who quit her practice to pursue modeling while also helping fellow models with her knowledge of the law. In 2016, she told the People that she can show herself not only as a model but also as a human being with imperfections.
Nicole Petrie
Nicole, 26, was born and raised in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and currently works as a model and caregiver for her mother, who suffers from FTD (Frontal Temporal Degeneration). Nicole holds a bachelor's degree in psychology. After her mother’s sickness, she started to model and currently tries to raise awareness of FTD while also providing a platform for carers. On being selected, Nicole wrote on Instagram, “This is a real dream come true and I’m so thankful that I get to do something I’m so passionate about while also raising awareness for FTD and giving a voice to caregivers all over the world!”
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Sarafina Nance
Sarafina is an astronomer and a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow at Cal. She's also a virtual astronaut who recently finished a Mars simulation. Her mission is to bring the universe's magic to the rest of the earth. Notably, her memoir, ‘STARSTRUCK’, will be published by Penguin Random House next year. Sarafina was also diagnosed with the cancer-causing BRCA2 genetic mutation. After fighting cancer and undergoing treatments, her journey in Swimsuit has been inspiring. She told her followers on Instagram, “Our scars make us beautiful. Our brains make us brilliant. Our journeys make us unique. Our adversity makes us strong.”
Victoria Vesce
Victoria was born and raised in Eastern North Carolina and majored in journalism at NC State. In college, she was a member of the Charlotte Hornets dance team. During her third year of dance, while studying for the LSAT, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and lost half of her hearing. She continued to model while attending part-time law school in Charleston after her treatments. She completed her studies and now works as an advocate for the National Brain Tumor Society. On Instagram, she shared, “Being a part of this journey and a finalist really has ignited my spark again for life,” after becoming one among the finalists.