These 10 Photos of Crystal Dunn in St. Lucia Put Her Power and Beauty on Display

The professional soccer player took to the beaches with SI Swimsuit ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

Martha Zaytoun | Sep 18, 2023

Crystal Dunn was photographed by Ben Watts in St. Lucia

Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

Professional soccer player Crystal Dunn had a big year in 2019. In addition to playing in the FIFA World Cup with the U.S. Women’s National Team, the athlete traveled to St. Lucia with three of her fellow USWNT members to make her SI Swimsuit debut.

Unsurprisingly, the icon brought both power and beauty to the beaches of St. Lucia, which came across in the final photos taken by photographer Ben Watts. On top of that, the former UNC Tar Heel took time to reflect on both the experience at-hand and representing the USWNT.

The athlete had a lot of fun on the beach, as she kicked around a soccer ball and displayed her dance moves. But her favorite snapshots, according to Dunn herself, were the ones in the “gold one-piece swimsuit that really stood out to me,” she said. “I think it’s also because they did my hair up differently and I kind of was joking with the guys, I was saying, ‘Oh I feel like a queen, like I feel like an Egyptian queen or something.’ It was just the way the sun was hitting the gold bathing suit.”

She loved the photoshoot itself, but particularly appreciated the opportunity to represent the USWNT on set, which she aptly deemed “amazing.”

“When I look at our team or when I look at society in general I think there’s so many different shapes and sizes of people,” she remarked. “And I think that’s basically what our team is made up of—so many people from so many different walks of life.”

Dunn also played in the 2023 World Cup this past summer. In honor of all of her achievements, both on and off the field, we’re taking a look back at her 2019 feature in SI Swimsuit. Here are some of our—and Dunn’s—favorites from the day.

crystal10 — Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated

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Published Sep 18, 2023

MARTHA ZAYTOUN

Martha Zaytoun is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Before joining SI Swimsuit in 2023, she worked on the editorial board of the University of Notre Dame’s student magazine and on the editorial team at Chapel Hill, Durham and Chatham Magazines in North Carolina. When not working, Zaytoun loves to watercolor and oil paint, run and water ski. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a huge Fighting Irish fan.