Meet Rayna Vallandingham, SI Swimsuit’s Newest 2025 Rookie

The 13-time Tae Kwon Do World Champion is on set with Yu Tsai in Jamaica for the 2025 issue.

Rayna Vallandingham was photographed by Yu Tsai in Jamaica. Swimsuit by Lybethras. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

From the age of 2, mixed martial artist Rayna Vallandingham has excelled in Tae Kwon Do. As a child prodigy, breaking records and making history was all part of the game—and it continues to be at 22.

When she was 8 years old, the Southern California native, who grew up in an Indian-American family, had already won an impressive four Tae Kwon Do World Champion titles, the youngest-ever to win in the sport. Fast forward to the age of 20 and she became the the youngest black belt
martial artist to win 12 titles. Currently, she has 13.

Needless to say, Vallandingham is an absolute powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with, also rising to fame through social media. With 3.7 million followers on Instagram, she’s created quite the internet presence for fans to follow along with her everyday updates.

The athlete, who has also launched a career in acting, is currently on set with SI Swimsuit for her debut photo shoot, posing for Yu Tsai’s lens in Jamaica. Vallandingham’s full gallery of images won’t be released just yet—we’ll have to wait until closer to the 2025 issue release in May—but we are excited to share the first official photo with our readers today. Unsurprisingly, she looks incredible on the beach, rocking a two-piece from Lybethras.

Rayna Vallandingham was photographed by Yu Tsai in Jamaica. Swimsuit by Lybethras. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Keep up with our 2025 reveals page and our Instagram page to follow along with Vallandingham’s day on set, from behind the scenes sneak peeks and more. In the meantime, here’s everything you should know about her.

Success in mixed martial arts

A legend in the making in her sport, Vallandingham is a fourth-degree black belt whose life has been all about Tae Kwon Do since she was a toddler. “I was a shy kid, so they put me into martial arts to help me break out of my shell,” she explained to Vogue India, referring to her parents. Her passion and dedication to the sport was evident from a young age, calling the dojo her second home.

When she was 9 years old, she became the first person to win six Tae Kwon Do World Championships in one year, also securing the Triple Crown, winning first place in traditional forms, traditional weapons and sparring. After taking a break as a teenager in an effort to feel like a “normal kid,” she got back into the sport—but things were different. Feeling like she had lost her “momentum,” the realization that it wouldn’t be so easy to jump back in was “hard to stomach.”

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But Tae Kwon Do World isn’t the only talent Vallandingham possesses. Setting her sights on acting, she made her debut last year in one of Netflix’s most successful comedy series.

Venture into acting

After appearing in the 2018 music video for Shawn Mendes’s song “Youth” featuring Khalid, Vallandingham realized how impactful her role as an actress would be for Indian-American representation.

“I think what was really remarkable for me is, all the records that I’ve set in the music video industry or social media or martial arts, it’s always been like, Rayna, you were the first Indian-American to do this, or Rayna, you’re the first female Indian-American to lead a music video. And for me, that was so crazy because it’s like, Indian women are so incredible. They’re so beautiful,” she told Yahoo! Life.

In 2024, Vallandingham made her debut in the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai, playing co-captain of the Iron Dragons dojo, Zara Malik. She appears in the third installment of the season, the epic series finale, releasing this week on Thursday, Feb. 13.

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“I never got to see a female Indian lead in an action movie. And that’s why I want to be that. I want to inspire so many girls who don’t see people that look like them,” she added.

The sky is the limit for Vallandingham and we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome her to the fold.