SI Swimsuit selects 35 finalists in historic, open casting call

SI Swimsuit announces the finalists for it's first-ever open casting call.

#SISwimSearch may be over, but the fun has just begun!

We were blown away by the 5,000+ submissions we received on Instagram for our first-ever open casting call, and the women who weren't afraid to bare all o pursue their dream of being a part of SI Swimsuit. From a farm girl in Texas to a former New England Patriots cheerleader, we spent hours watching footage of real women, of all shapes and sizes, who embody exactly what SI Swimsuit is about.

"We decided to hold an open casting call this year because, while we cast the bulk of our models through the traditional avenues of modeling agency submissions, it is very clear to us that there are plenty of exceptionally interesting and beautiful women in the world that exist outside of 'industry "expectations,' explained SI Swimsuit Editor MJ Day. "By creating an opportunity for women to submit their own casting video on their own terms, we hope to find an undiscovered star."

It wasn't easy by any means, but from the thousands of amazing videos, we narrowed it down to 35 inspiring women, who will make the trek to Brooklyn this week for a second round of in-person castings with the SI Swimsuit team. Complete with video interviews, meetings with the editor, and a bikini-clad photo shoot, our Instagram stars are guaranteed to help us close a historic week of casting calls with a bang!

And one lucky lady will be guaranteed to appear in SI Swimsuit. Talk about a dream come true!

Can't wait to find out who made the first cut? We're sharing a few of our lucky leading ladies below!

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A post shared by Michelle Vidal (@iammichellevidal)

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#https://instagram.com/p/BSPGBlaBZOR/

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A post shared by Aubri Ebony Williams (@aubriebony)

Be sure to follow SI Swimsuit on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (SISwim), for a behind-the-scenes look at our most exciting casting call week ever, and leave comments letting us know which open-casting-call star you hope to see on the pages of SI Swimsuit 2018!