Brooks Nader Reflects on Making SI Swim Modeling Dreams a Reality

The 2023 cover model has been with the brand since winning the open casting call in ’19.

Cara O’Bleness | Dec 24, 2023

Brooks Nader was photographed by Ben Watts in Hollywood, Fla.

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

When she first auditioned for the Swim Search, Brooks Nader described feeling “so nervous” and was full of self-doubt. If only that version of Nader knew that she’d go on to land the cover of the SI Swimsuit Issue in 2023.

After being declared winner of the brand’s open casting call in 2019, the Louisiana native has returned to the fold each year since, traveling to the Bahamas, Bali, Hollywood, Fla., Montenegro and the Dominican Republic with the magazine.

While in Florida posing for the 2021 SI Swimsuit Issue, Nader reflected on her initial audition and her personal growth since then.

“When I decided to stand in that line in Miami for SI Swim Search in 2018, with a chance to be in the 2019 issue, I was so nervous, I was doubting myself, I was feeling insecure,” Nader admitted. “Sports Illustrated literally launched me, launched my career, made other people realize that everything is accepted, everything is O.K., it’s O.K. to be you, and this is the only shoot that I’m literally never nervous for, I’m just excited for, so I feel like that speaks volumes about the team, the experience, like the whole vibe of SI Swimsuit and I’m so lucky to be a part of this family.”

This May, Nader got to celebrate her “dream come true” when she became an SI Swimsuit Issue cover girl. In honor of the full-circle moment, we’re throwing it back to a few of our favorites from her photoshoot in Florida, courtesy of Ben Watts.

Brooks Nader — Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

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Published Dec 24, 2023

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.