2024 Rookie Brittney Nicole Talks Personal Growth and Gratitude

The Swim Search co-winner traveled to Portugal for her SI Swimsuit photo shoot.

Brittney Nicole was photographed by Ben Watts in Portugal. Swimsuit by Svn Swim. Necklaces by Cleopatra’s Bling. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Brittney Nicole knows what it means to pivot. After serving in the U.S. Navy for eight years, the Georgia native began pursuing a career in the modeling industry. Last February, she landed the cover of NOW Weddings and was named co-winner of the 2023 Swim Search last fall. She recently traveled to Porto and the North, Portugal, to work with photographer Ben Watts for her SI Swimsuit rookie feature.

"With a fresh perspective on the industry and a relentless drive to excel, Brittney joined the SI Swimsuit family with a new and invigorating energy," says editor in chief MJ Day. "Her journey to modeling is as diverse as it is inspiring; from studying psychology in college to serving in the Navy, her story exemplifies that the pursuit of dreams knows no bounds."

Nicole has walked the Miami Swim Week and New York Fashion Week runways and collaborated with notable brands like DIBS Beauty and Nadine Merabi. A fitness enthusiast and certified personal trainer, she uses her platform to collaborate with humanitarian organizations like the Tayo Collective.

While on location in Portugal, we caught up with Nicole to chat about her Swim Search experience, what her photo shoot was like and how her career in the Navy has influenced her work as a model. 

Brittney Nicole was photographed by Ben Watts in Portugal. Swimsuit by Svn Swim. Necklaces by Cleopatra’s Bling. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

“I feel like I can … take on the world”

Nicole learned of her 2024 rookie status on a Zoom call last fall with her six fellow co-winners (Achieng Agutu, Nina Cash, Sharina Gutierrez, Penny Lane, Jena Sims and Berkleigh Wright). 

“I just couldn’t believe it because we all became rookies at the same time,” Nicole says of the special moment. “It would have been great if one of us had been selected. We would have all been happy for whoever it was. But the fact that they selected all of us, it just feels like Christmas Day.”

Brittney Nicole was photographed by Ben Watts in Portugal. Swimsuit by Svn Swim. Necklaces by Cleopatra’s Bling. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

While Nicole, 32, has been dreaming of pursuing a modeling career since she was a young girl, it was her sister, Destiny, who pushed her to submit herself for last year’s Swim Search. 

“I was like, O.K., I’m going to put myself out there. So I put myself out there and here I am,” Nicole says.. “[Destiny]’s the one who pushed me into my dreams, pushed me into modeling and she’s the one who has given me confidence and saw that in me before I even did … She believed in me before I believed in myself, and now it’s like, I feel like I can just take on the world.”

Brittney Nicole was photographed by Ben Watts in Portugal. Swimsuit by Svn Swim. Necklaces by Cleopatra’s Bling. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

“I’m a work in progress”

Nicole describes feeling both excited and emotional the evening before her photo shoot with the SI Swimsuit team. But when she stepped on set early the next morning, she quickly found herself in her element. 

“The shoot has been so much fun. The team is amazing,” Nicole gushed of the experience. “Everything is just chill, but the energy is still there. It’s kind of chilly out here, but I’m so pumped up on adrenaline and excitement that even though I’m in a bikini and it’s probably like 55 degrees out here, I’m still warmed up and just ready to go, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

Nicole hopes her inner strength and resiliency shine through her photos. She says that though she’s entering a “fun and exciting” new chapter with modeling, like most of us, she doesn’t quite have it all figured out.

Brittney Nicole was photographed by Ben Watts in Portugal. Swimsuit by Svn Swim. Necklaces by Cleopatra’s Bling. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

“I’m a work in progress,” she says. “I’m entering a new chapter in my life and I know I want to model, I know the passions and the things that I love to do. I love to help people, I love to feel good when it comes to working out and my eating habits and dieting and everything and I want to continue on doing that. I want to build my brand around being very health conscious and helping women with their health and their fitness goals. I feel like I’m in a transition right now.”

She appreciates being able to share her story through SI Swimsuit and says that she feels comfortable being her true, authentic self through this period of transformation.

“I feel like I’m still that girl from Canarsie, Brooklyn, that never in a million years would I have thought I would be at this point today,” Nicole admits. “I’ve come a long way, and I’m so grateful for every moment and everything that SI [Swimsuit] has put me through, just the transitions that I've been going through, my emotions, all of it. I needed to feel all of this in order to grow, in order to be here.”

“Your destination can change at any point”

Nicole experienced an incredibly full-circle moment while on location in Portugal, as it wasn’t her first time in the country. 

“I was in Portugal 10 years ago deployed and now I’m here 10 years later with Sports Illustrated [Swimsuit],” she shares. “So your destination can change at any point and you just have to enjoy the journey. I really hope that people can see my photos and just get inspired by my story and how far I’ve come.”

While serving as a Seabee in the Navy, Nicole was in a male-dominated construction field that took her all over the world. Throughout her time in the military, she built schools and runways in Guam, Spain, Israel and Japan, and says that serving with the Navy equipped her for the modeling world in one major way: by teaching her discipline. 

Brittney Nicole was photographed by Ben Watts in Portugal. Swimsuit by Svn Swim. Necklaces by Cleopatra’s Bling. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

“[Discipline] is something that I didn’t have when I joined the Navy. I didn’t have the discipline, and I’ve had it for eight years,” Nicole explains. “Then going into modeling, it was so easy to work out, be very conscious of the things that I’m eating and just stick to the plan. The Navy is very structured, and modeling is not so structured, but you still need to have discipline and you still need to figure out what course you’re going to take.”

She is incredibly grateful for where her journey has taken her over the last 10 years, and Nicole says that the work she’s done on herself over the past decade has led her to the SI Swimsuit Issue at exactly the right time. 

“The inner work that I did to prepare myself to [get to] this point has been incredible because I really needed to change my perspective on how I viewed myself,” she says. “I always felt that I needed to be something else that I wasn’t and I always compared myself to other people based off of what I thought society wanted me to be—but going through this made me realize that all I need to do is just be myself.”