Our Queens
Rachel Pizzolato
Miss Swimsuit USA International 2026
Rachel Pizzolato is a multitalented, award-winning scientist and Patent-Pending inventor, published writer and poet, fashion and runway model, National Champion Trampolinist, as well as, an actor who starred in Discovery Science Channel’s – MythBusters Jr. Her inventions have garnered success at the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair where she won the Grand Award in 2016, 2017, 2018. She has competed in many National and International Competitions such as Broadcom MASTERS (2016, 2017, and 2018) Coolest Projects (2019 & 2020) and ISEF (2019 & 2020). Recently, she was selected as Top 300 for the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search. In 2016, she was awarded, from MIT, a minor planet named after her called (Pizzolato 33187). Recently, she also won Akron’s Global Polymer Academy’s National Award in Science and Engineering. Also, her writing has garnered awards from NASA and in 2018, she won the AIAA National NASA essay competition for her article entitled, “Astronauts – The Right Stuff Indeed!” Rachel has walked the fashion runway for internationally renowned designers such as Stevie Boi, Brick Allen, Ema Savahl, and Anthony Rubio. She has been featured and graced of international fashion magazines such as Lookbook.Paris, Ellements, and Smith and Gale, Tyngl, and Style Cruze and GMARO. She has been featured in articles by The New York Post and Harper’s Bazaar France.
Rachel is an internationally recognized fashion and swimwear model who works with GUESS, Nike, and Vasaro. Her statuesque physique and bubbly personality make her a crowd favorite, and she is in high demand as a runway model during New York Fashion Week and Los Angeles Fashion Week, as well as Miami Swim Week, New York Swim Week, and Las Vegas Swim Week.
She has won numerous beauty pageants including the 2018 Miss Pre-Teen New Orleans, 2018 Pre-Teen Miss Louisiana State, and 2018 Pre-Teen Greater Gulf States Supreme. Recently, she placed 1st Runner-Up in the 2021 Miss Louisiana Teen USA. She is the reigning 2021 Miss Sportsman’s Paradise Teen USA. Rachel has a passion for science fiction and enjoys performing at comic cons. She can routinely be seen performing at FanExpo, Wizard World, CyPhaCon, Big Easy Con, Siouxpercon , San Diego Comicon, Wondercon, and STEM festivals around the country. She has a large array of characters that she enjoys portraying including Catwoman, Electra, and Rosie the Riveter, but she is currently working on her own original character that will debut in 2025. She is a social media influencer with 2.4 Million followers on TikTok, 3.2 Million followers across her Instagram, and over 1 Million subscribers on YouTube. Recently, she attained an IMDb rating of “4” which is her all time high rating. She is currently working on numerous movie and television projects around the world, and her new horror movie, Round The Decay, where she stars as WREXSOUL in theaters January 2025, as well as “The 3 Killer Pigs”. She recently hosted numerous events including Electric Con and presented the nominations for the 2024 Saturn Awards.
Rachel regularly works with animal shelters and humane societies to promote care and treatment of abused and neglected animals. When not working with the Rescue Dogs Rock New York and The SPCA to promote humane treatment to animals, one of her favorite hobbies is talking with kids and encouraging them to DREAM BIG! She encourages kids to follow those dreams of participating in the activities they enjoy and are passionate about!!! She feels that it is extremely important to cultivate young minds and show them that there are people out there that are behind them and want to see them succeed! She wants to show them that if they put their minds to something, there is nothing that can’t be accomplished. Rachel wants to instill in them to ask questions and be inquisitive in all areas of their lives. She feels that it is important to encourage kids to explore their interests with a passion! Most of all, she wants to encourage everyone to, “Dream Big!” Check out Rachel’s social media for all the cool adventures and events:
Angel Bhathal
Miss Swimsuit USA International 2025
Dr. Angel Bhathal is a trailblazer, the first Canadian and first woman with her doctorate to become Miss Swimsuit USA International. She hopes to inspire women and girls to continue to break glass ceilings and not be afraid to think outside of the box. Angel grew up in the coldest city in Canada, Winnipeg, completed her Doctor of Pharmacy in Edmonton, at the University of Alberta, and now currently works and lives in Toronto, Canada. Angel has served to advance patient care in hospitals, pharmacies, and for non-profits.
Through Swimsuit USA International, Angel has traveled and escaped the cold Canadian winters and expanded her modeling experiences working with swimwear brands from around the world. Angel cherishes her experiences at Swimsuit USA International as it prepared her for her debut as a model walking in "Miami Swim Week" in May 2024.
In 2023, Angel was recognized as Canada's Top 3 Mentors at the Women's Empowerment Awards. She enjoys mentoring women and girls in pharmacy, their careers, and in pageants. Angel is also an advocate for Plan International, where she has planned and hosted events in support of raising funds and awareness for gender equity and literacy internationally!
In Angel’s spare time, she can be found going for walks by the waterfront, gratitude journaling, and traveling the world. Angel speaks English, French, Punjabi, Japanese, and has traveled to 47 countries.
"Swimsuit USA International is more than a model search or a pageant, it is a family. There is a reason why so many contestants, judges, photographers, sponsors, staff, and VIPs come back to this system every year. It is because Swimsuit USA International fosters a supportive and invaluable community. Over the last three years, I have seen myself and the contestants by my side grow. I have established lifelong friendships from this network of incredible people. I have utter admiration for the former SUSA queens and contestants I have met, this sisterhood of celebrating each other is what makes SUSA so special. Thank you Kathy for every opportunity you provide all of us - we love you!”
- Angel Bhathal
Keslyn Hart
Miss Swimsuit USA International 2024
Keslyn Hart is a small town girl from Palatka, Florida. She has been modeling for 4 years now and Swimsuit USA International is where it all began! Since then, she has modeled for countless brands, promotions, and photographers. Keslyn has also walked in both Miami Swim Week and NY Swim Week. She’s also been on two reality TV shows!
Keslyn graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Business Administration. Since graduating she has started working at a commercial construction company in Florida. She has also recently passed her general contractors exam and looks forward to bringing a fresh perspective to the industry.
3 years ago, Keslyn started her own jewelry company. “For The Girls Jewelry” is waterproof jewelry subscription service that donates a percentage of their proceeds to different women’s charities each month, the charities include The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, I A.M. B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. (helps foster confidence in young girls), and RAINN (fights against sexual assault and provides support to survivors). Keslyn started this business because she believes that “There is nothing better than a community of women supporting one another”.
When Keslyn isn’t working or working out, she loves traveling, yoga, outdoor hiking, water sports, and she’s a firm believer that you should “ALWAYS go chasing waterfalls”!
"Being crowned Miss Swimsuit USA International has been four years in the making and I am so overwhelmed with emotion. I love this organization so much and it’s the people inside of it that make it so special. I have truly formed life long friendships and have had so many cool experiences and opportunities that have come from this competition. It was such an honor to wear Palatka, FL across my heart.
Swimsuit USA International is so much more than a pageant. It’s women building their confidence together. It’s women clapping for each other. It’s women pushing themselves and each other out of their comfort zones to grow together. It’s women celebrating what it means to be a woman. It’s SO MUCH MORE than a beauty pageant! Every single woman on that stage deserves the crown. It was an honor to share this experience with you and I will wear it for all of us. This crown is ours!"
- Keslyn Hart
Kianna Stephens
Miss Swimsuit USA International 2023
Kianna Stephens from Cornwall, UK is 23 years old and a professional Dancer & Model. I began dancing when I was 3 years old at my primary school in England all the way through until I was awarded a full scholarship to study at the prestigious Elmhurst Ballet school in association with the Birmingham Royal Ballet. I lived away from home and studied 6 days a week from the age of 13 through graduating into my first professional dance contract in 2018. My dancing career has consisted of working at sea on cruise ships where I performed all around the world, performing in productions for the Vegas Show Girls in Germany and also the Thursford Christmas Spectacular. Alongside my dancing career, I began modeling dance wear for various companies and started to enjoy modeling as much as dancing. My modelling career highlights include walking for the Boux Avenue Fashion Show, GHD Hair shows, Billboards for Pineapple Dance Studios clothing, Commercial for Rolls Royce and a campaign for Next Official.
Winning Miss Swimsuit USA International has been my biggest achievement so far and I couldn’t be happier. I have made many new connections and friendships from the experiences. With competing, I’ve gained confidence and belief within myself and my capabilities. Other achievements have been winning Miss Swimsuit UK in 2019, where I won my place to compete in the World Finals and experience Swimsuit USA International. Since winning, I’ve been inspired to start my own modeling agency and social media management business with my best friend (SA Media Management). My new business means I get to help other people find happiness and have similar experiences. I hope I get the opportunity to make many new connections across the globe, travel and experience new destinations as Miss Swimsuit USA this year.
Lara Mitton Zafir
Miss Swimsuit USA International 2020-2022
Lara Mitton Zafir – Miss Swimsuit USA International Winner 2020-2022
Lara is a country girl from a small, beach town in the Whitsundays, Australia. As she grew up on the doorstep to the Great Barrier Reef, she has been living in bikinis as long as she can remember.
Lara says “I think the secret to rocking a bikini is feeling good in one!”
Her 1st time on stage, Lara entered a local pageant to grow confidence and learn to overcome stagefright. She ended up having a total blast and won the heat! That ignited a passion for the sparkle and the glamour. After years of hard work, she won a national title, leading her to the Swimsuit USA World Finals. Lara placed in Top 10 the 1st year she competed in Swimsuit USA. The goal didn’t stop there. Once she had a taste for the big leagues, Lara was determined to make it to the top.
Lara and her husband, Australian UFC fighter, own a Mixed Martial Arts Gym and Lara has also competed in the ring a few times. It gives me an “all or nothing” attitude. “You win or you learn, then you work on what you’ve learned and try again”. It was that thinking that drove Lara to compete again at Swimsuit USA, where she took home the title of Miss Swimsuit USA International 2020!
Sierra Nowak
Miss Swimsuit USA International 2019
Sierra Nowak is an award-winning actress, international model, and philanthropist. She obtained her Bachelor of Science from The University of Southern California, becoming the first in her family to graduate from college. Currently Sierra works both in front of and behind the camera, she finds joy in producing as it allows her to create opportunities and give a voice to women in film. She also founded Sanctuary Candle Co. a small, woman-owned, sustainable candle business. She is passionate about mental health awareness and inspiring young women to pursue entrepreneurship. She attributes her interest in sustainability and her global mindset to her travels. To date, Sierra has lived in 4 different countries and traveled to over 18. Traveling is her way of connecting to humanity.
You can see Sierra in season 5 of the hit television show Lucifer, and the film Kidnapped to the Island on Lifetime. Most recently, she has been internationally recognized as an actress with her short film, NARC, directed by Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd, which she both starred in and produced. This project is currently being developed into a feature length film. Sierra also continues to work in theater, and was humbled to portray the character Paige, in the new stage play Misunderstood, executive produced by Morris Chestnut. Sierra’s goal is to tell compelling stories that facilitate tangible change for women using meaningful and sometimes even humorous filmmaking. A quote she lives by is, “Be expectant of what God is going to call you into.”
To keep up with Sierra, follow her on Instagram and Twitter @SierraNowak