Getty Image
During Miami Swim Week in July, Sports Illustrated held an open casting call for swimsuit models who want to appear in the 2020 SI Swimsuit Issue. As usual, there was no shortage of models for the publication to choose from, but one in particular, Jodi Harrison-Bauer, caught a little more attention than the others.
That’s because Jodi Harrison-Bauer is a 58-year-old mom with two daughters aged 30 and 26. Not that you would know it by looking at her.
“I saw there were no specific age categories,” Harrison-Bauer told the New Haven Register. “That was my loophole to go for it.”
“Whether I’m chosen or not. I’m doing this as another way to share who I am and encourage others along the way that it’s not too late to try something new,” said Harrison-Bauer.
Sadly, we now know that she was not, in fact, one of the chosen few. Not that she’s mad about it. In fact, she’s quite happy and she should be because out of the 5,000 who tried out for the magazine, she made it to the final 60.
“I felt a huge accomplishment getting to the top 60,” she told The Post. “I’m very into manifesting and visualizing things, and I just didn’t see myself making it into the sweet 16.”
The owner of boutique gym JodiFit, in Branford, is happy with her “consolation prizes.”
“I’ve gotten hundreds of e-mails from women telling me that I’ve inspired them,” she said.
As for how she stays in such great shape at 58, Harrison-Bauer said, “If I am being honest, I only work out three to four times a week. I lift weights for 45 minutes and then do cardio for 30 minutes to an hour”
However, she also added, “I eat really clean. I eat five times a day. My meals have leafy greens, two servings of goods fats like avocado and two to three starches a day.”
Whatever it is she’s doing, it’s working.
“This journey wasn’t and isn’t about being a model in Sports Illustrated Swim, but about the inclusivity of a woman who is not or has never been a professional or signed model, actor or dancer over the age of 55,” she wrote on Instagram. “This was about making a decision with the urging of my daughters to ‘go for it’ and ask to be included in the Swim Issue since they now have an open casting call. There were no requirements. I didn’t know anything about the SI Swim world, or industry. I didn’t know the editor of the issue or most of the models. But I began to educate myself as the process continued. It was a great learning experience and I entered and embraced everything and everyone I met. I didn’t have a coach or an agent or a manager. I went as myself to ask to be included in an issue that prides itself on inclusivity. That was my mission.”
Mission accomplished.