Megan Rapinoe Made History With Her Breathtaking SI Swim Feature in St. Lucia

The retired professional soccer player and brand legend first posed for the magazine in 2019.

Megan Rapinoe was photographed by Ben Watts in St. Lucia. / Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Olympic gold medalist Megan Rapinoe made history in 2019 in multiple ways. The professional soccer player, who retired from the sport last year, became the first openly gay woman to pose for SI Swimsuit when she traveled to St. Lucia with photographer Ben Watts five years ago. Hot off the heels of a FIFA World Cup championship—her second title—she also filed (and ended up winning) a class action lawsuit later that year, with the U.S. Women’s National Team demanding equal pay to their male counterparts. Rapinoe was also named SI’s Sportsperson of the Year in 2019.

Fighting for equality, activism and paving the way for female athletes and the LGBTQ+ community has always been important for the 39-year-old. She returned to the fold as an official SI Swimsuit “legend” earlier this year, in honor of the 60th anniversary publication, and posed alongside 26 fellow franchise stalwarts, including her fiancé, WNBA star Sue Bird.

“It’s really special [to be here],” she shared while on set with the team and photographer Yu Tsai in Hollywood, Fla. “The lineup of women and the evolution of the cover of the Swimsuit Issue has become so much more representative of the women in it. For me, being gay and being able to represent in that way, and not just for myself but for others to see that, maybe makes someone more comfortable with themselves or opens up their aperture a bit more.”

Today, the NWSL star, who played for OL Reign for a decade and led the team to win three NWSL Shields, is the cofounder of production company “A Touch More,” primarily focused on amplifying revolutionary stories about identity, activism and underrepresented groups

She is also a New York Times bestselling author, one of Time100’s Most Influential People and a recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom award. She’s constantly using her platform to create positive change and empower an entire generation of young women and athletes.

“Empowerment is being able to be yourself and not trying to fit into what someone else prescribes for you or what the world prescribes for you, or showing up in a way that makes other people comfortable,” the California native said. “As women, we have so many restrictions, guardrails and opinions—ways that we’re meant to be that really have nothing to do with who we are; it’s more about other people. For me, being empowered is showing up exactly how I want and the way I want, and being able to bring my full self, no matter what, no matter where I am.”

Today, we’re taking a look back at her phenomenal and history-making SI Swimsuit feature in St. Lucia with Ben Watts in 2019.

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated