8 Beautiful Photos From Ariel Meredith’s Photo Shoot Along Route 66

The model appeared in five editions of the SI Swimsuit Issue.

Cara O’Bleness | Jan 7, 2023

Ariel Meredith made her SI Swimsuit Issue debut in 2009 and went on to appear in the magazine four additional years, including double features in both 2012 (when she was photographed by Bjorn Iooss in Panama and by Stewart Shining in Apalachicola, Fla.) and ’13 (when she traveled to Spain to pose for Alex Cayley and participated in a bodypaint photo shoot with fellow model Nina Agdal and photographer Walter Iooss Jr. in the Bahamas).

Her 2014 photo shoot found her traveling to Switzerland with photographer Yu Tsai, while Meredith’s ’15 feature was a unique departure from the beach in the form of road trip down Route 66 for a unique and stunning photo shoot with photographer Ben Morris and models Hannah Ferguson, Sara Sampaio and Ashley Smith.

The Shreveport, La., native told SI Swimsuit the talent she’d most like to have would be on the other side of the camera lens.

“The talent that I would love to have, I would love to actually be in photography or behind the scenes, like a fashion stylist,” she said. “I think I would be really good at that.”

Today, Meredith is married to former New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. Together, they share daughter Aveila and son Amir.

Below are eight gorgeous photos from Meredith’s adventurous ’15 photo shoot along Route 66.

Ariel Meredith — Ben Morris/Sports Illustrated

Published Jan 7, 2023

CARA O’BLENESS

Cara is a trending news writer/editor for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. A passionate writer and editor with more than 10 years of experience in print and online media, she loves storytelling and believes that words have the power to change the world. Prior to joining the team, Cara 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, Cara 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.