Swimsuit

Gabriella Halikas Reflects on ‘Full-Circle’ Moment With SI Swim

The 2021 Swim Search finalist stumbled upon her magazine issue and had the sweetest wave of nostalgia.

Ananya Panchal

Gabriella Halikas

Gabriella Halikas.

Swim Search finalist Gabriella Halikas was given a reminder from the universe that she was in fact an SI Swimsuit star in 2021. The open casting call finalist was photographed by Yu Tsai in Atlantic City two years ago and she has nothing but fond memories of the exciting moments.

The social media influencer, who has built her platform around body positivity and confidence, stumbled upon the last copy of the 2021 SI Swimsuit Issue in a magazine store recently. She took to Instagram to reflect on what the Swim Search experience was like and how it impacted her career.

“this was such a full circle moment for me :’) wowowow haven’t seen this specific 2021 issue on the stands in years … and i was in the middle of a photoshoot when i quickly ran into this magazine store on the street here in nyc (to grab some magazines and newspapers to shoot with)— and looked over and saw this last copy of the 2021 @si_swimsuit issue sitting on the shelf🥹🥹😭,” the 26-year-old wrote on Nov. 9. 

Halikas, who is signed to Ford Models, gushed about how pursuing her career aspirations and never taking “no” for an answer are finally staring to pay off.

“From chasing this SI Swimsuit dream for 3 years prior to see it casually in this store, while temporarily living in NYC to chase my dreams as a model with my dream agency now… was definitely a full-circle, emotional moment for me.🥹don’t ever give up on your dreams!!!💫🦋,” she continued.

The content creator has recently been documenting her move from Los Angeles to New York City, in addition to vlogging about her super cool modeling gigs and maintaining her reputation as the “CEO of Confidence.”

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Ananya Panchal
ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Before joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. When she is not writing or doom-scrolling on social media, Panchal can be found playing sudoku, rewatching One Tree Hill or trying new restaurants. She's also a coffee and chocolate (separately) enthusiast. Panchal has a bachelor’s in communications and journalism from Boston University.

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