Nicole Petrie Shares Sweet Throwback to the First Time She Saw Her SI Swimsuit Photos

The full-time model and caregiver made her debut with the magazine as a Swim Search finalist last year.

Nicole Petrie.Sean Zanni/Getty Images

In honor of the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue dropping next month, Nicole Petrie shared a sappy throwback video from the first time she saw the results of her own photo shoot with Yu Tsai in the Dominican Republic last year.

The 28-year-old, who is a full-time caregiver to her mother, who has FTD (frontotemporal degeneration), sat on a big lounge chair a year ago, with her cat by her side and scrolled through the stunning pics on an iPad. She lifted the tablet up to show the camera her favorite snapshots and wiped a few happy tears from her eyes.

“It’s almost that time of year again and I’m so excited for the new #siswimsearch class to have this moment! Not sure why I never posted this but I can remember this feeling like it’s yesterday,” she captioned the April 24 clip she shared with her 27,500 Instagram followers. “The proudest moment of my life 🥰 representing people like me (caregivers, people from working class families, TALL GIRLS 🤩, people who have struggled with mental health, the natural baddies, and people who are KIND aka ALL OF YOU!) @si_swimsuit @theswimfluencenetwork @mj_day.”

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Petrie also shared the video on TikTok alongside a message to her younger self.

“Not sure why I never posted this,” she wrote. “I wish I could tell 16 year old Nicole that it is all going to be okay… actually better than okay, because our dreams become reality!”

Last year, the Swim Search model shared that she hoped her feature in the magazine would serve as representation for caregivers everywhere.

“I get to represent and be a voice for caregivers all over the world, spread awareness for FTD and show anyone going through a similar situation that they are not alone,” she said. “I think a lot of young girls look up to the women in the SI Swimsuit edition, and I was no exception to that. Now, to be able to shoot with them and hopefully take one of those magazines home to show my mom that her daughter grew up and accomplished that goal of being in the issue. It’s a real dream come true.” 

View Petrie’s full 2022 gallery here.

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