2024 SI Swimsuit Issue Cover Model Hunter McGrady Is Ever-Inspiring

The Southern California native landed the front of the magazine for her sixth year with the brand.

Hunter McGrady Wants Her SI Swimsuit Photos to Inspire Women to Love Themselves /

This year marks the sixth time that Hunter McGrady joins the annual SI Swimsuit Issue. The American model has traveled everywhere from Costa Rica to Bali for her spot within the pages of the magazine. And this year, she’s taking to the cover. The 31-year-old is one of four individual cover models for this year’s 60th anniversary issue.

View Hunter McGrady’s Mexico photo gallery here.

View Hunter McGrady’s Legends photo gallery here.

A lasting partnership

McGrady was 22 when she posed for her first feature in the SI Swimsuit Issue. Now 31 and on her sixth photo shoot with the brand, she’s still both willing and excited to return. In part, her willingness stems from the support she’s found in the SI Swimsuit family.

“The biggest reason that I keep coming back to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit is because they have supported me through every stage of my life,” she explains.

Since her first year with the brand, McGrady has grown and changed a lot. She has gotten married and given birth to two children. She has seen impressive career achievements. She has “grown physically, spiritually, mentally,” she says on the set of her 2024 photo shoot in Mexico. Through it all, “[SI Swimsuit’s] love for me has never swayed.”

It’s not just about the support that she receives, though. McGrady keeps returning to the fold because she believes in the brand, too. “They’re much bigger than a brand. They’re family, but they’re also making an impact on the world,” she remarks of SI Swimsuit. “They’re being the change that I want to see in the world, and I want my children to see in the world. And to be a part of that is epic.”

Hunter McGrady was photographed by Yu Tsai in Mexico. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Changing the narrative

McGrady is known as a body diversity advocate. Through her modeling work, her entrepreneurial endeavors and her social media platforms, the Southern California native has dedicated herself to changing the narrative about size in the modeling industry and beyond.

The most gratifying part of her mission, she says, is the positive impact that she has had on dozens of women. Several reach out to say “that I have helped them love themselves—even the tiniest bit,” she explains. “Even if it’s just, ‘I can wear a tank top again because I see you rocking your arms.’ Or, ‘I can wear a swimsuit for the first time in my life.’”

She has seen that impact grow now that she’s a mom (and has shared honest outtakes from motherhood). In 2022, the model posed for the annual SI Swimsuit Issue when she was only six months postpartum. To fellow mothers, McGrady is proof that life isn’t “over after kids.”

“Knowing that you have impacted someone’s life in a positive way,” she explains, “is the most rewarding thing ever. That to me is success.”

Hunter McGrady was photographed by Yu Tsai in Mexico. Swimsuit by Mapalé Necklace by Brinker + Eliza Bracelets by Brinker + Eliza. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Future hopes and aspirations

As far as size inclusion is concerned, McGrady knows that there is yet work to be done. The industry has made strides in recent years, but issues remain.

Twenty years from now, she hopes that’s no longer the case. At that point, McGrady “would love for fashion to be truly inclusive—across the board,” she says. “I would love to stop mentioning people’s size because it’s the least important thing about them.”

Hunter McGrady was photographed by Yu Tsai in Mexico. Swimsuit by JMP The Label. Bracelets provided by New York Vintage. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

She’s looking for “true inclusivity,” and “not just a checked box.” It’s going to take hard work, but the McGrady knows that the reward would be worth the effort.

“I want brands to do the work. I want higher ups to do the work,” she explains. “I want that to trickle all the way down to the bottom so that us the consumer can reap those benefits.”