By Katherine Jones
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
A 24-year-old Baltimore-based plus-size model posed elegantly in between rows of vines, taking a picture that would soon be seen by thousands.
The photo of Jaden Vacura was reposted by Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit Instagram page as part of the company’s 2021 Swim Search.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit search contest this year is a campaign titled “Feel Good,” hosted alongside the coconut water company VitaCoco.
Each week, nine women who use the hashtag ‘#FeelGoodFeul’ and tag @si_swimsuit account are featured on the sought-after Sports Illustrated swimsuit Instagram page. For the week of Sept. 4, Vacura was one of the lucky nine women featured in their #FeelGoodFriday post.
Vacura found out about her feature when she had just gotten out of surgery and was in the car waiting for her boyfriend to come out of the store when she turned on her phone to various notifications and direct messages.
“I saw that Sports Illustrated had DM’d me. I was like ‘Oh! Okay.’ I was still in that post-anesthesia haze,” Vacura said, laughing. “I was still trying to comprehend exactly what they meant. Of course, then I saw the notification of where I had been tagged.”
Daniel Macon, Vacura’s boyfriend, was excited to see that his girlfriend had been reposted on Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit page.
“It’s nice to see an Instagram community support and encourage each other,” Macon said. “Especially during these times.”
Vacura started modeling in Kansas at the age of four when her parents took her and her brother to a scouting office. While Vacura was picked to be a child model at the time, she decided not to go through with the offer.
“At that time, I said, you know, ‘No, I wanna be a normal kid,’ or something like that,” Vacura said.
Vacura received questions growing up about whether she modeled or played sports due to her height. In college, Vacura came in contact with some local photographers and started modeling locally. She eventually knew this was what she truly loved to do.
“I like the confidence that it gives me because I’m a very awkward, socially anxious person, but there’s just something about being in front of the camera,” Vacura said. “You become a whole other person.”
Vacura accumulated a little over 100 followers after being reposted by Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit page. She has also gained a new set of friends through this experience.
“Now it’s just all the networking and talking to all the girls with Sports Illustrated,” Vacura explained. “We’re constantly DM’ing each other.”
Vacura teamed up with the other girls who had been featured for the Feel Good campaign to make a TikTok for all of their social media accounts. In the video, the girls passed each other passports from frame to frame while wearing their signature beachwear. Vacura’s younger sister, Jenae Vacura, helped her film and edit the TikTok.
“It was really cool to see her work with the other girls and be able to help out,” Vacura said.
Vacura hasn’t had any modeling agencies reach out to her since being featured in early September. She gained a new sort of confidence from this feature, however, and is grateful for the experience.
“It was something that was small,” Vacura said. “But also, when you’re posting and you’re trying to get noticed and everything it’s very big to you.”