Swimsuit

Berkleigh Wright Celebrates Birthday in Classic Bikini Style on Beautiful Boat

The SI Swimsuit rookie and former cheerleader was all smiles on her special day.

Allie Hayes

Berkleigh Wright was photographed by Derek Kettela in Belize. Swimsuit by Frankies Bikinis.
Berkleigh Wright was photographed by Derek Kettela in Belize. Swimsuit by Frankies Bikinis. / Derek Kettela/Sports Illustrated

Berkleigh Wright is celebrating her birthday this month, and we’re ready to party along with her!

The former Denver Broncos cheerleader and current model made her debut with SI Swimsuit back in 2024 with a breathtaking rookie photo shoot in Belize after co-winning the Swim Search open casting call in 2023, which was the same year she walked in the annual Swim Week runway show in Miami, Fla.

To celebrate turning 31 years old on July 17, Wright shared a gorgeous photo drop on Instagram Friday to the delight of her loyal followers—and you better believe it featured plenty of boats, beaches and breathtaking looks. (It’s her birthday, but she’s the one gifting us? It should really be the other way around!)

Captioning the sweet photo set, “31 years and the blessings keep getting bigger 🤍,” Wright was all smiles for her special day. The cover snapshot for the massive 20-photo carousel featured the former cheerleader posing on a boat with Carolina Panthers player Sam Martin, with whom she quietly confirmed her relationship back in January via a lowkey Instagram post.

While relaxing in the sun, the birthday girl donned a black string bikini, layering the piece with a pair of baggy white linen pants with a unique palm tree pattern. She accessorized with a stylish hat and oversized sunglasses, which proved to be the perfect combo for keeping cool while out on the water.

And this classic summertime look was far from the only beachside fashion Wright sported in the many shared snapshots. Other outfits included a white crop top and floral midi skirt combo, a denim-on-denim moment and a blue one-piece swimsuit featuring this summer’s hottest pattern: polka dots. She also included several photos of the beautiful flowers she received, as well as some candid photos with her friends and family.

But we weren’t the only ones ready to pop some bottles for her birthday! Plenty of Wright’s fellow SI Swimsuit models, friends and followers were happy to hop in her comment section to wish her another year of health and happiness:

“Happy birthday sweetest most beautiful person!!!!” SI Swimsuit model Christen Goff wrote.

“U deserve it all,” SI Swimsuit Rookie of the Year Jena Sims declared.

“👏👏👏👏,” fellow SI Swimsuit rookie Sharina Gutierrez concurred. “You deserve it all ❤️.”

“Another amazing year around the sun ilysm ❤️,” stylist Sheerin Lemieux added.

And we of course echo all of the above sentiments, and are wishing Wright a very happy birthday!

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Allie Hayes
ALLIE HAYES

Allie Hayes is an experienced pop culture staff writer and editor specializing in movies, TV and celebrity news. Before joining the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit team as a Breaking/Trending News Editor, she worked at several outlets including BuzzFeed, The Daily Dot, and Newsweek. When she’s not writing for work (or writing for fun), you’ll find her curled up on the couch reading yet another romance novel, obsessively watching pro wrestling with her friends, or taking blurry photos of her two adorable cats.

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