SI Swimsuit’s oldest model Kathy Jacobs, 57, owns it

It’s the new age of hot.

And fifty seven-yr-aged Sports Illustrated bikini model Kathy Jacobs is the silver-haired mother of the motion. 

“Old is the new warm,” a smiling Jacobs informed The Put up.

The 5-foot-two married mom of a single is featured in SI’s 2021 Swimsuit edition, and is the oldest girl to ever be spotlighted in the issue’s fifty seven-yr history. (Sports Illustrated’s very first Swim quantity hit shelves in 1964 — the similar yr Jacobs was born).

“I’m closer to sixty than I am to 50 at this position,” reported the little town Texas lady-turned-Calabasas, California resident. “So to be in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit magazine representing females my age is just the ideal experience in the environment.”

Jacobs was a single of the 13 rookie products discovered by way of Sports Illustrated’s once-a-year Swim Look for casting contact.

Jacobs (fifth from left) says being feature in Sports Illustrated means so much to her because she's struggled to break into the modeling industry for almost 40 years.
Jacobs (fifth from still left) says getting attribute in Sports Illustrated usually means so considerably to her because she’s struggled to crack into the modeling business for virtually 40 years.
Getty Images for Sports Illustrated

The social media campaign invitations females above eighteen to submit by themselves for SI Swim thing to consider by uploading a sixty-2nd video clip to Instagram conveying why they must slay in the sultry spread. 

“Old is gold,” reported Jacobs in the submission clip she posted very last August. “And brief is hot,” she continued prior to adding, “Heck, I’m so out, I’m in.”

Her enduring Southern allure and timeless magnificence received judges above.

And prior to her petite frame graced the pages of SI Swim Monday, Jacobs was tapped to rip the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit runway in the course of Miami Swim Week on July 10. 

“When I very first went out [on the runway] the key thing on my mind was to display gratitude,” Jacobs reported, noting how grateful she was to serve as a delegate for girl in her age demographic. 

“I was talking to the females [in the viewers] expressing, ‘I stand for you’ as I walked,” she reported. 

And the fact that virtually each and every other model sharing the phase was all over the similar age as her 24-yr-aged daughter, Abigail, did not bother her a little bit. 

“I was like ‘screw it,’” Jacobs reported. “I’m going to be my major, baddest and boldest self.”

Jacobs wasn't intimidated by the  age gap between her and her fellow Sports Illustrated models.
Jacobs was not intimidated by the age gap between her and her fellow Sports Illustrated products.
Getty Images for Sports Illustrated

“I’m taking complete gain of this moment,” she continued. “Because It’s taken me so long to get here.”

Her journey to bikini model nirvana has been no working day at the seashore.  

“I’ve been trying to crack into the modeling business for about 37 years now,” reported Jacobs. “I moved to New York when I was 19 and worked with Ford products.”

For the duration of the ‘80s she managed to rating a couple of print gigs, such as the 1989 include of Woman’s Planet Magazine. But Jacobs’ career as a substantial-style fixture hardly ever materialized. 

“I tried and tried and tried,” she reported. “But I did not not get involved. I was not invited to the celebration. And I experienced to take a good deal of minimum wage work.”

Just after she moved to California with her partner of 26 years, Rob — a Grammy award-successful music engineer — Jacobs did every little thing from performing at a memento kiosk on Hollywood Boulevard to sweeping the floors at a regional hair salon. 

But she hardly ever deserted her modeling ambitions. 

“I grew up with a brother who couldn’t wander,” Jacobs reported. “And knowing that his best dream was just to be in a position to wander is what  inspired me to continue to keep going for walks [toward my dream].”

Jacobs' invalid brother inspired to continue chasing her dreams despite decades of rejection.
Jacobs’ brother, who couldn’t wander, inspired her to carry on chasing her goals irrespective of many years of rejection.
Getty Images for Sports Illustrated

Jacobs would not allow her possess modern health scare cease her stride both. 

“I discovered out that I have some pre-disposition diabetic issues and substantial cholesterol,” she reported. “So I experienced to make a life-style transform.”

More than the very last couple of years she’s lower out sugar, bread, starch and meat — except for fish. 

The bathing fit model now maintains a stringent diet of seafood, veggies and fruit. And she burns up the energy by way of cross-in good shape workout routines — which consist of quite a few extreme rounds of cardio and human body weight education circuits — four to five situations a 7 days. 

But her eating prepare and physical exercise regimen are extra about getting the most best variation of herself, and much less about trying to keep a youthful glimpse. 

“I’m not competing with 20-yr-olds, 30, 40 or even 50-yr-olds,” Jacobs reported. “I’m just trying to be the ideal that I can be.”

Jacobs follows a strict diet and exercise routine in order to maintain her age-defying beauty.
Jacobs follows a stringent diet and physical exercise plan in order to keep her age-defying magnificence.
Getty Images for Sports Illustrated

And even though she’s honored to showcase her ideal self in Sports Illustrated, Jacobs says extra style and magnificence giants have to have to emphasize non-regular products too. 

“Don’t just give us lip-services [saying] that you are inclusive,” she reported defiantly. “Be inclusive.”

Jacobs is now making her possess pores and skin-care line curated for females above 50. 

“Put females above 50, sixty and 70 in your advertisements and on the runway,” she reported “We must be honored by main models because we’re the demographic with the most disposable profits.”

“Show these females some appreciate.”