Supermodel Bar Refaeli Adorns the Cover of the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on Newsstands Today!

The 2009 Issue Features 33 Models, 7 Countries and 83 Bikinis; Super Models, Rookie Models, WTA Tennis Stars, NBA Dancers and The World's Fastest Woman Danica Patrick! The 46th Annual Swimsuit Issue Will Be Read By A World-Wide Audience of 66 Million

From the beach on Canouan Island in the Grenadines, supermodel Bar Refaeli graces the cover of the highly anticipated 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on newsstands today. Refaeli, a three-year veteran of the Swimsuit Issue, is the first Israeli model to land the cover of the coveted magazine. Photographer Raphael Mazzucco, who also photographed the 2008 cover of Marisa Miller, captured the cover photo during a two-day shoot with Refaeli on Canouan Island in the Grenadines.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090210/NY68777 )

The 2009 Swimsuit Issue takes a journey to four countries with ancient cultures and pillars of modern beauty and makes stops in Naples, Italy; Cappadocia, Turkey; Riviera Maya, Mexico; and Tenerife, Canary Islands. The cover of the iconic magazine is billed, Bikinis or Nothing, and showcases a photo of Brooklyn Decker displaying a map of the world - in only paint!

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, a staple of American popular culture, will reach an audience of more than 66 million and there will be more than 350 million page views on SI.com/swimsuit.

Three smashing tennis players - Tatiana Golovin, Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko - make their Swimsuit debut in the Dominican Republic with SI legendary photographer Walter Iooss Jr. The magazine also features 10 NBA dancers representing Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Phoenix Suns, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons and Philadelphia 76ers.

"This issue brings together all of the elements that make SI Swimsuit Issue the most anticipated magazine in the world every year," said SI Group Editor Terry McDonell. "The photography is perfect, the locations make you want to go there yourself and the models are full of surprises."

SI.COM: SI's editors turned the Swimsuit models loose in their cities and asked them to bring back snapshots showing their wild sides - from rookie Lucia Dvorska posing on the bull on Wall Street to Esti Ginzburg doing some laundry beach-style in her apartment building in New York's East Village. For model snapshots visit SI.com/candids.

SI.com will post over 1,500 exclusive photos and 60 video clips totaling over 100 minutes of footage from all 19 models, NBA dancers, Danica Patrick and WTA tennis players. Footage includes a behind-the-scenes look from the seven locations, model-produced Web diaries and a close-up, detailed presentation of body-painting.