While you might still be ogling the 2018 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, plans are already underway for next year’s issue. The magazine announced Camille Kostek and Haley Kalil as winners of its first-ever open casting call. Both women appeared in teeny bikinis in the 2018 issue as part of the search and were named official members of the 2019 Rookie Class at a blowout bash in Las Vegas over the weekend by current SI covergirl Danielle Harrington.
Both Kostek and Kalil’s journeys began in March 2017 when SI asked aspiring swimsuit models to post 60-second Instagram videos with the hashtag #SISwimSearch. Kostek and Kalil beat out over 5,000 applicants for the spots.
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Continue on to see their steamiest bikini photos and social media snaps.
Camille Kostek
A former cheerleader for the New England Patriots, Kostek was a fan favorite from the beginning of the year-long journey. She has said she always dreamed of being an SI swimsuit model.
She told the magazine she hopes to use her new platform to encourage young women to love their bodies and pursue their dreams.
Both Kostek and Kalil were in the group of 35 chosen from the original group of 5,000 applicants to travel to New York to pose for a photo shoot.
Once the group was narrowed down to 15, the women headed down to Miami to debut the new SI Swimsuit swim and activewear lines. From there, the magazine narrowed it down to the top six finalists who all appeared in the 2018 SI Swimsuit issue as model search contestants.
Photos from the Mahogany Bay, Belize shoot show Kostek posing in everything from a barely-there purple string bikini to nothing but oversize netting.
She told SI that she always looked up to Jennifer Lopez grown gun because “she had a set of hips” and hopes to be the same inspiration for young girls.
Haley Kalil
Crowned Miss Minnesota in 2014, Kalil can be found on the Carolina Panthers’ sidelines cheering on her husband, offensive tackle Matt Kalil. But the beauty had virtually no experience in modeling, with the SI shoot in Belize being her first-ever professional modeling job.
Kalil donned a string thong bikini for one shot, while another shows her covering her bare chest with her arms while posing in the water.
At the SI Swimsuit party over the weekend, Kalil showed off her fit physique in a mismatched bikini, mirrored sunglasses and cute braids.
“Who knew I’d be in boho braids and a bikini when I heard the best news of my life,” she shared on Instagram. “Thank you Vegas for a life-changing weekend.”
She’s candid on social media and wants people to know “a woman can be both.”
“I can graduate with a 4.0 gpa and the highest honors in academia and pose for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit,” she captioned a photo on Instagram. “Because one can be intelligent, powerful, and worthy of respect while still embracing sensuality, sexuality, and femininity.”
She told SI that one of the biggest things to happen since appearing in the magazine is the surge of social media followers she’s received — jumping from a few thousand to more than 41,000 and counting.
