Leonardos bikini babe - Malaysiakini

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit unveiled on Tuesday 23-year-old Refaeli as a first-time cover girl, wearing a string bikini by Missoni - and the strings on the bikini bottom are being tugged south. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK - THE world knows a lot more about Israeli-born Bar Refaeli today than it did yesterday, including where her tiny tan line falls.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit unveiled on Tuesday 23-year-old Refaeli as a first-time cover girl, wearing a string bikini by Missoni - and the strings on the bikini bottom are being tugged south.

This gig, more than top fashion or entertainment magazines, can be career-altering as it puts a model's face (not to mention, her likely fantastically toned and taut body) in front of millions of eyeballs, appealing to both men and women, sports fans and fashionistas.

Refaeli, long linked romantically with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, told The Associated Press that she had the feeling that this particular shot of her in the water on Canouan Island in the Grenadines was her shot to be on the front.

'This is the one I felt the most comfortable with,' said Refaeli, who twice before was featured on the inside pages of the magazine. 'You have the beach, blue water and a body. That's it. I liked that the top of the suit was on.' It's the cover that matters most, says SI group editor Terry McDonell, but each model - 19 for this issue - gets an equal shot at the cover.

'The cover has to reflect the athleticism and sexiness of the culture. This photo is modern, her hair and swimsuit look natural.

You see her freckles. Her body is amazing and she looks intelligent,' Mr McDonell said.

It's also purposeful, he noted, that the models have healthy, sometimes curvy, figures. 'A skinny waif won't work here.'

Mr McDonell, along with Swimsuit editor Diane Smith and SI creative director Steve Hoffman, sifted through 90,000 photos this year.

You can be sexy without revealing too much skin, said veteran supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, who first appeared on the Swimsuit issue cover in 1970 - and then again in 1975 and 1983.

SI's swimsuit issue began in 1964, when February marked the low point of the sports seasons. National football ended in December, there were no national televised hockey games and the basketball league had only a half-dozen teams.

After putting safe-driving tips and dog shows on the cover, SI decided to put an attractive female on the cover and call it a 'skin-diving story,' recalls Ms Smith. It was popular from the start, but Ms Smith thinks it was Tiegs' cover that made it a phenomenon.

However, it was Kathy Ireland in a white strapless bikini in 1989 that remains the best-selling cover. -- AP