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Beach Time

The photos you remember and others that you've never seen, now at SI.com/vaultswimsuit

I haven't been to a beach in America since I don't know when—it isn't worth it," said cover subject Elle Macpherson in the 1986 Swimsuit Issue. "People who recognize me always think I don't look that good in real life. That's fine with me. Let them deal with the dreams."

Over the past 45 years SI's annual swimsuit coverage has evolved from a short feature wedged in among the week's regular coverage to this year's 180-page dedicated magazine. The iconic images of memorable models—Cheryl Tiegs stepping out of a lagoon wearing that fishnet one-piece in 1978, anyone?—have at times been supplemented with spreads on athletes such as Danica Patrick, Gabrielle Reece and Serena Williams, and player wives like Ingrid Vandebosch (Jeff Gordon) and Debbie Clemens, whose 2003 swimsuit shoot came up in last year's congressional investigation into her husband Roger's alleged steroid use.

Similarly, SI.com continues to expand its swimsuit content with pictures and other model-related media that did not appear in the magazine: extensive photo galleries, on-site videos (the bodypainting of Brooklyn Decker, for example) and candid seaside interviews. What do you get when you add the new images to the classic ones? SI.com/vaultswimsuit . It's all there.

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