Jena Sims is back for her third consecutive appearance in the 2026 issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, and she marked the moment Monday afternoon by sharing behind-the-scenes content from this year's fitting on social media.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit said each model gallery would drop on Tuesday, May 12, setting off launch week for the new issue and giving Sims another turn in a franchise she has helped keep visible.

Sims was previously identified as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Rookie of the Year, and her return comes with a familiar calendar of appearances around the release. The brand also announced SI Swimsuit Social Club events for May 15 and May 16 in New York City, with live shows and meet-and-greets expected to bring the models directly to fans.

Sims is on the list of models set for those meet-and-greets later that week, extending a run that has included other high-profile SI moments as her profile has grown through bikini-related content and repeated magazine appearances. She attended the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Kick Off Dinner at W South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida, on May 30, 2025, and later appeared with Katie Austin and Nicole Williams English at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year ceremony at XS nightclub at Encore Las Vegas on Jan. 6, 2026.

The timing matters because Tuesday's gallery rollout is the official start of the issue's public push, and the New York events will give Sims and the other models the kind of face time that keeps the release from living only online. For Sims, the answer to what comes next is already on the calendar: the galleries go live Tuesday, then the Social Club events and meet-and-greets follow later in the week.