Readers, meet Cris Urena. Cris, meet your new fanbase.

Rebecca Shore | Feb 12, 2014

Over the next two weeks SwimDaily will be releasing the identities of the record-high 12 rookies picked to carry the Swimsuit franchise into its next 50 years. Check back every day at 2 p.m. ET for a new reveal!

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Cris Urena: The Dominicana of WOO-STAH

Cris Urena :: Photo by Walter Iooss Jr./SI | Swimsuit by Xhilaration for Target

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Cris Urena | 22 | Santo Domingo, D.R. 

I was born in Santo Domingo, and was about seven or eight when we moves to the States.  I grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, and went to school there from fifth grade all the way to college. Growing up, everyone would be like, ‘You should be a model,’ but I was like, I don’t know.  One day my friends said, 'There’s a casting and we submitted your pictures.  You need to stop wasting your body and get out there.'  One of the agencies responded.  About three months later, I moved to New York.

MORE CRIS: Twitter | Instagram | Models.com page

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No. 9 Valerie van der Graaf | No. 8 Lily Aldridge | No. 7 Samantha Hoopes | No. 6 Lauren Mellor | No 5. Marloes Horst | No 4. Hannah Ferguson | No. 3 Emily Ratajkowski | No. 2 Gigi Hadid | No. 1 Sara Sampaio