Ilona Maher and Haley Baylee Turn SI Swimsuit Finale into Water Leap
Ilona Maher turned the 2026 SI Swimsuit Runway Show finale into a splash when she and Haley Baylee grabbed hands and jumped into the water surrounding the catwalk in Miami on Saturday, May 30. The clip of the moment, captured live by Olivia Maher, had drawn nearly 3 million views and over 125,000 comments in under 24 hours.
W South Beach finale
The annual show at the W South Beach began at 9 p.m. ET and brought many of the models from SI Swimsuit’s 2026 issue onto the runway. By the time the evening wound down, the models returned in SI Swimsuit-branded looks for a final spin, and Maher and Baylee broke the expected runway exit by taking a running leap into the water.
That move fit the setup of the show itself: the catwalk was surrounded by water, so the closing beat could go from fashion show to viral clip in one step. Lizzo performed live, and several pro dancers from ABC's Dancing With the Stars also appeared, giving the event enough moving parts that the finale did not need a standard walk-off to land.
Olivia Maher clip
Olivia Maher posted the moment on Instagram, and the numbers did the rest. Nearly 3 million views and over 125,000 comments in under 24 hours put the leap well beyond a niche Swim Week cutaway; it became the part of the show most likely to travel first, especially because it happened at the exact point when the runway was already set up to reward a risk.
The full 2026 SI Swimsuit Runway Show is set to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ beginning Tuesday, June 9, which gives the brand a second pass at the same event after the clip cycle has already done its work. For anyone tracking SI Swimsuit’s rollout, the water jump did what a finale is supposed to do: it created the shareable image, then left the longer version waiting behind it.
