Sports Illustrated Unveils Sexy Swim Search Finalists

Swimsuit season is here – and what better way to celebrate than by gazing upon some lovely ladies in bikinis? That’s a long-winded way of saying that Sports Illustrated has just announced the finalists for its 2022 Swim Search.

These 14 girl-next-door beauties will compete for one coveted spot in the magazine’s much-anticipated Swimsuit Issue, which will feature spreads of the usual sexy professional models you’ve come to associate with the annual gawk-fest.

The sun-splashed finalists span the gamut from cancer survivors to an astrophysicist to an ICU nurse. They are also physically and racially diverse. The unifying factor among them? They all “inspire action throughout their communities,” SI said.

Like everything else, the internet was divided about the unorthodox lineup of hotties.

“The diversity here is AMAZING!” one Twitter user cheered.

The diversity here is AMAZING! https://t.co/ZihrpysQVt

— Jenna Donnchadh (@PoGOesotericess) March 9, 2022

“The @SInow Swimsuit Issue is 100% woke again this year,” another Twitter user moaned. “Who is the readership of Sports Illustrated? Are regular guys like “bring on the ’empowering changemakers’!” Who misses the plastic football phone?”

The @SInow Swimsuit Issue is 100% woke again this year. Who is the readership of Sports Illustrated? Are regular guys like “bring on the ’empowering changemakers’!” Who misses the plastic football phone?https://t.co/Ch3hETqGMU

— Andrew Wilkow (@WilkowMajority) March 10, 2022

Oh, don’t be such a curmudgeon. We haven’t seen this much skin since last summer. Let’s just enjoy it.

To that end, we’ve rounded up the finalists’ social media handles so you can follow (and ogle) them until that lusted-after copy of the Swimsuit Issue lands on your doorstep (or your inbox).