The Swim Search is an annual casting call that allows models—whether established or aspiring to break into the industry—the chance to meet with the SI Swimsuit team and, hopefully, be featured in the next issue. From a travel ICU nurse and a former Mrs. Universe to a breast cancer fighter and two physicists, get to know these diverse Swim Search finalists before the SI Swimsuit issue is revealed on Monday, May 16. The winner of the Swim Search will be announced in August and featured as a Rookie in the 2023 issue.
Ashley Byrd
Age: 33Hometown: Amite, LouisianaHeight: 5'10"Instagram: @ashleynbyrdOccupation: ModelAbout: Byrd is a first-generation college graduate; she majored in criminal justice at Southern University, where she also played basketball, and received her master’s in public administration. She took on various gigs, including construction work, before trying her hand at modeling.SI Swimsuit Bio
Ashley Callingbull
Age: 32Hometown: Alberta, CanadaHeight: 5'11"Instagram: @ashleycallingbullOccupation: Model, actress, motivational speaker, jingle dress dancer and TV hostAbout: Callingbull is a Cree First Nations woman and in 2015 became the first Canadian and Indigenous woman to win the title of Mrs. Universe; she is also the first Indigenous First Nations woman to be featured in SI Swimsuit. She participated in the fourth season of The Amazing Race Canada with her stepfather and is a professionally trained dancer in tap, ballet, jazz, and pointe.SI Swim Bio
Drew Dorsey
Age: 28Hometown: Suisun City, CaliforniaHeight: 5'8"Instagram: @drew__dorseyOccupation: TV host, YouTube personality and modelAbout: Dorsey earned her degree in communication studies and journalism from Loyola Marymount and has since hosted shows like Uproxx/WMX’s Wom/n Worldwide and Hearst Media’s Clevver Style. She now lives in Los Angeles.SI Swim Bio
Gigi Robinson
Age: 24Hometown: New York CityInstagram: @itsgigirobinsonOccupation: Digital artist, podcast host (Spotify Greenroom’s live audio show, Everything You Need Is Within) and health and wellness advocateAbout: Robinson is a graduate of the University of Southern California and is currently pursuing her master’s degree. Diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome at age 11, the advocate is the founder of Its Gigi LLC, a creative media company focusing on ethical partnerships, and the first Gen Z and chronically ill woman to be featured in SI Swimsuit.SI Swim Bio
Hillory Fields
Age: 28Hometown: Arcadia, FloridaInstagram: @hillorybanksOccupation: Travel ICU NurseAbout: Now based in Los Angeles, Fields received her Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from Florida A&M University. She developed the Sbar App during the pandemic to assist burnt-out travel nurses in reviewing and rating travel assignments and hospitals. Fields was named after Hillary Clinton and Maya Angelou.SI Swim Bio
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by ᴅᴏʟʟ ꜰᴀᴄᴇ ✨ (@hillorybanks)
Kelly Crump
Age: 42Hometown: Kernersville, North CarolinaInstagram: @itskellycrumpOccupation: Retail fashion executive and modelAbout: Based in London for the past decade, Crump was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 38 (she had no family history of the disease). She has been through six surgeries and 60 rounds of chemotherapy, and in 2019, the cancer spread to other parts of her body. Crump is determined to change the face of what stage 4 metastatic breast cancer looks like. She is the oldest of the 2022 Swim Search finalists.SI Swim Bio
Lotta Hintsa
Age: 33Height: 5'6"Hometown: Helsinki, FinlandInstagram: @lottahintsaOccupation: High-altitude climber and endurance athleteAbout: Hintsa earned the title of Miss Finland in 2013. Though she says her mail goes to Helsinki, the athlete lives a nomadic lifestyle, spending much of the year in a trailer, tent, or basecamp. She has explored the highest mountain ranges in the world and aspires to push human limits by climbing mountains that have never been climbed before.SI Swim Bio
Mady Dewey
Age: 25Hometown: Santa Clarita, CaliforniaInstagram: @madydeweyOccupation: Entrepreneur, TikTok creator and podcast co-host (Socially Well)About: The Southern California native and Chapman University graduate co-founded the social media app Herd Social—a pressure-free photo-sharing platform for GenZ women and non-binary folx—and is passionate about making changes for women in the venture capitalist space.SI Swim Bio
Manju Bangalore
Age: 24Hometown: Corvallis, OregonInstagram: @astronautmanjuOccupation: Physicist, actor, political strategist and non-profit founderAbout: A first-generation Indian-American, Bangalore graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in physics and a minor in math. Having dreamed of becoming an astronaut since she was four, she had the chance to work at two NASA centers as an undergrad and became a scientist-astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM in 2021. She has founded two non-profits, Operation Period and Painting With Parkinson’s—the latter is in honor of her father, who has been battling Parkinson’s for more than a decade—and is working on a short film about menstrual freedom. Bangalore was crowned Miss World California in 2019.SI Swim Bio
Michelle Fuente Steffen
Age: 30Hometown: Buenos Aires, ArgentinaHeight: 5'6"Instagram: @mich.steffenOccupation: Model and entrepreneurAbout: A former lawyer, Fuente Steffen still puts her legal knowledge to good use, offering legal advice to models in order to help them procure strong contracts.SI Swim Bio
Nicole Petrie
Age: 27Hometown: Lake Geneva, WisconsinHeight: 5'11"Instagram: @nicolepetrieOccupation: Model and caregiverAbout: Petrie is a full-time model and caregiver for her mother, who suffers from Frontal Temporal Degeneration (FTD), a disease Petrie actively advocates awareness for. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and received a scholarship to play volleyball as an undergradSI Swimsuit Bio
Sarafina Nance
Age: 29Hometown: Austin, TexasInstagram: @starstrickensfOccupation: Astrophysicist/analog astronaut, advocate and authorAbout: Astrophysicist Nance is a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow at the University of California, Berkeley and recently completed a Mars astronaut simulation. She is a breast cancer previvor, opting to have a preventative double mastectomy at 26 after being diagnosed with BRCA2, a cancer-causing genetic mutation. She has written a children’s book, Little Leonardo’s Fascinating World of Astronomy, and her memoir, Starstruck, is forthcoming with Penguin Random House.SI Swimsuit Bio
Victoria Vesce
Age: 29Hometown: Nashville, North CarolinaHeight: 5'8"Instagram: @victoriavesceOccupation: Lawyer and modelAbout: Raised on a buffalo farm and now practicing law in Miami, Vesce graduated from North Carolina State University with a B.A. in media communications and received her law degree from Charleston Law School; as an undergrad, she was on the Charlotte Hornets dance team. She is a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed in 2017 with multiple paraganglioma, a rare brain-skull tumor and carotid body tumor. Vesce is also a grief and mental health advocate, speaking out on her social media platforms after her mom died in 2021 and working with the National Brain Tumor Society.SI Swimsuit Bio
Next: Find out about Rob Gronkowski and SI Swimsuit model Camille Kostek’s cute couplehood! View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Kelly Crump |✨YOLO Guru✨ (@itskellycrump) View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Lotta Hintsa | Climber (@lottahintsa) View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Mady Dewey (@madydewey)
