Paige Spiranac’s Monochromatic Swimwear Styling in Aruba Featured All-Black Suits

The golf instructor and brand legend first posed for the annual issue in 2018.

Cara O’Bleness | Sep 20, 2024

Paige Spiranac was photographed by James Macari in Aruba. / James Macari/Sports Illustrated

Golf instructor and content creator Paige Spiranac first posed for the SI Swimsuit Issue in 2018, when she traveled to Aruba with photographer James Macari. The styling on set was all-black everything, so the Colorado native sported bikinis and one-pieces that starkly stood out against the idyllic backdrop of her surroundings.

At the time of her photo shoot, Spiranac was transitioning from playing golf professionally to doing social media full-time, and she found herself feeling “stuck.” She has expressed gratitude for taking part in her SI Swimsuit feature during that transitional time, because it was a very liberating moment for Spiranac.

“Doing that [photo] shoot was incredibly empowering,” Spiranac stated. “Having MJ [Day, SI Swimsuit editor in chief] there to talk me through it the entire time and build me up, I’ve never been in an environment where I’ve had so many women empower me and lift me up, which is something that we preach all the time, but you don’t really see it in real life.”

Fast forward six years, and the 31-year-old was named an SI Swimsuit legend in this year’s 60th anniversary publication. Spiranac took part in a group photo shoot alongside 26 other brand icons in Hollywood, Fla., in which she donned a stunning Maria Lucia Hohan gown in front of photographer Yu Tsai’s lens.

“Being an SI Swimsuit legend is an incredible honor,” she said on set this spring. “It has been a catalyst in changing who I am as a person and how I’ve progressed in my career. The support from SI and the impact it has had is indescribable.”

Below, we’re throwing it back to a few of our favorite SI Swimsuit photos of Spiranac in Aruba.

James Macari/Sports Illustrated

Published Sep 20, 2024

CARA O’BLENESS

Cara O’Bleness is a writer and editor on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Prior to joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, O’Bleness loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.