Brooks Nader on Swim Search Journey to SI Swimsuit Legend Status

The 27-year-old Louisiana native went from open casting call winner to brand icon in a span of six years.

Brooks Nader was photographed by Yu Tsai in Paradise Island, Bahamas. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Brooks Nader’s journey with the SI Swimsuit Issue sure is an inspiring one. The 27-year-old Louisiana native first joined us in 2019, when she auditioned for the Swim Search. Following her photo shoot in Paradise Island, Bahamas, Nader was declared the winner of that year’s open casting call.

During her casting call interview that year, Nader had the opportunity to speak with brand legend Christie Brinkley, and she used the moment to ask the 70-year-old supermodel for some career advice.

“[Brinkley said] ‘Show up with a smile on your face. Show up on time. Be nice to everybody. It’s not easy. You will be in two degree weather in a bikini. You’ll have bad conditions, you’ll be tired, you’ll be jet-lagged, but always have a smile on your face. Always work extremely hard and always be grateful,’” Nader recalled earlier this summer. “I was like ‘that’s all I need.’ And, to this day [Brinkley] is never not smiling. She’s always on time. She’s always hard working. And, that’s probably why—besides being drop dead gorgeous—she has gotten so far in her life and career. I took [that advice] with me forever.”

Nader has been featured in each SI Swimsuit Issue since her debut, and landed the cover of last year’s magazine. She posed for photographer James Macari in the Dominican Republic for the occasion. And this year, the model and former Dancing With the Stars contestant was photographed in Mexico for a solo feature, as well as in Hollywood, Fla., where she participated in a group photo shoot and was deemed a brand legend in honor of SI Swimsuit’s 60th anniversary.

“It’s surreal because I feel like I was just standing in line for the Swim Search, trying to be around the magazine and meet the team—and [back then] that to me seemed like such a far-fetched dream,” Nader stated while in the Sunshine State earlier this spring. “To go from being told ‘no’ by my agents, who said I wouldn’t be a good fit for Sports Illustrated [Swimsuit] and they wouldn’t like me, to actually winning the Swim Search and being in the issue, and then going on to be on the cover, to now being considered a legend, surrounded by actual legends like Christie Brinkley, Tyra Banks, Lily Aldridge and Maye Musk—I can’t even describe how incredibly special this moment is.”

In honor of her trajectory with the brand, we’re throwing it back to a few of our favorite snaps from Nader’s Swim Search photo shoot in the Bahamas, captured by Yu Tsai.

Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated