For those, like me, who hustled off to my favorite newsstand yesterday to pick-up Sports Illustrated magazine's world famous annual swimsuit edition, but came home empty handed, there is another alternative. This year, SI brings their coveted publication to your nearest computer screen.

The launch of their 2005 web site came on Tuesday, February 15th, the same day the hard copy edition hit newsstands.

After our annual SI subscription lapsed during the downturn in the economy, we put it on the "nice to have but don't need to have" list.

As my partner, Tim Fredel said:

Over the past three years, it's been one of those items you hold out as a carrot for yourself.

Save the swimsuit edition, I've turned exclusively to SI.com and ESPN.com to get all my sports news.

However, this year may be the year to once again be able to indulge in reading Sports Illustrated by the pool, in the loo, on the roof deck, while waiting for the kids' soccer practice to finish, wherever I darn well please.

Whether you're already a subscriber or intrigued to become one, SI's multimedia effort is a site for sore eyes.

On Tuesday, Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated division launched a Swimsuit site timed together with the release of the Time Inc. title's annual swimsuit issue.

SI.com/Swimsuit features a selection of more than 200 exclusive online photos -- free of charge -- that you won't find anywhere else.

They also offer mobile phone access.

This January, 4.9 million unique visitors went to the site -- before the swimsuit release. Last January, they attracted 3.9 million visitors. In February, their audience jumped to 4.7 million. In August, the Olympics drew an even bigger crowd. Over 5.3 million unique visitors went to SI.com. But it was college football that attracted the most viewers. In November, 5.4 million college football fans turned to Sports Illustrated's online content and photos.

In addition to this year's supermodel, Olympic athlete and professional athlete photos, SI's site gets you one step closer to purchasing any one of the model's swimsuits.

And just in time for my upcoming trip to Mexico!

These contextual commerce links are almost what I've been looking forward to for years. Hopefully, next year, we will be able to link directly to the product rather than simply to a phone number.

Sports Illustrated also released their 2005 Swimsuit DVD.

To subscribe to the hardcopy edition of Sports Illustrated, go to:

SI.com/Swimsuit

The SI.com site also includes exclusive video, as well as a "virtual reality" scene in which users can "direct" an actual photo shoot from a variety of angles and distances.

For the first-time users can purchase a digital edition of the Swimsuit print edition for $5.99.

Rate-A-Photo

You are also invited to vote for your favorite photos.

The only cost: The time it takes to downloaded the latest version of Flash Player.

2005 Models

The supermodel photo shoots took place last year in the Bahamas, Thailand, Chile, Costa Ricas, Honduras, Belize and Croatia, to name a few.

This year's beauties include:

Michelle Alves

Ana Beatriz Barros

Yamila Diaz-Rahi

Alicia Hall is this year's winner of NBC's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search series. She is 19-years-old.

Click on "Alicia Hall" to see her online profile and photos.

Bridget Hall, now 27, has modeled for the likes of Gucci, Fendi, Anne Klein and Ralph Lauren.

When she was eighteen, she was listed in Forbes as one of the top 10 moneymakers in modeling.

Click on Bridget Hall name here to see exclusive photos not shown in your Sports Illustrated magazine.

SI gives you nearly one thousand reasons to become a subscriber. Bridget is at least one of them.

Michelle Lombardo won won last year's last year's Sports Illustrated Fresh Faces Model Search.

In the first nationwide competition, the twenty-one year-old stunner beat out 2,786 women who entered the contest.

The judges clearly were looking for more than physical beauty. The natural athlete also represents the healthy, athletic spirit that SI obviously looks to promote in their famous publication.

Marisa Miller - the 25 year-old California girl from Santa Cruz

Fernanda Motta

Carolyn Murphy

Petra Nemcova - the 25 year-old Czech Republic "sunshine" girl with the stunning smile

Oluchi Onweagba the 23 year-old Nigerian-born Victoria Secret model

Frankie Rayder - the 30 year-old Wisconsin-born beauty who has contracts with Chanel, Celine and Givenchy and who has appeared on the cover of Elle and Vogue. Anyone who is both a Boston Red Sox and a Green Bay Packer fan gets called out by this publisher. (My husband has not put Brett Favre on our refrigerator as she has, but his old computer password used to be a derivation of a Favre to Freeman touchdown.)

Daniella Sarahyba - talk about itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny polka-dotted bikinis

Shakara Ledard

Mallory Snyder - the 21 year-old Midwestern gal who grew up with a NFL wide receiver for a dad (Todd played for the Falcons from '70 - '73)

Jessica Van Der Steen - the 21 year-old Belgium beauty who loves soccer

Veronica Varekova

Anne V - an 18 year-old Russian beauty who also works for Ralph Lauren and Chanel

Jessica White - also one of Victoria Secret's Covergirls

While all of the women are stunningly beautiful, the model who captured our hearts this year, and who has the most healthy, adventuresome and soulful "rugged elegant" look in our book is Oluchi Onweagba (seen at the top of the page).

Her profile reads:

Oluchi won the inaugural Face of Africa contest sponsored by the South African television network, M-Net. The prize: a three-year modeling contract with Elite.

She recently received an associate's degree in business organization and management from NYU. Oluchi plans to take more business classes.

We love her natural beauty, as well as her hat, earrings, bangles, and suit by INCA.

Oluchi's photo shoot took place in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Stewart Shining was the SI photographer who captured it all.

This year's SIcover girl is Carolyn Murphy.

The above cover photo was taken on Kamalane Cay in the Bahamas by fashion photographer Jeff Olson.

Murphy is the first all-American girl to land on the front page since 1999.

A century ago, California girl Rebecca Romijn was the last U.S. citizen to have their face and body star on the cover.

Murphy is a 31-year-old blue-eyed blonde mother and high-fashion runway model. She has her 4-year-old daughter, Dylan to thank for scoring big as a model.

Murphy said:

I never thought I'd make the pages of Sports Illustrated, because I've always been skinny. But after I had my daughter, I had hips, I had boobs. It takes some adjustment.

My partner (boyfriend Brandon Boyd of Incubus), he loves it, but it's something I had to embrace.

Murphy, who weighed 182 pounds during her pregnancy, says it took a year to get back into shape. At 5-foot-9, she's now 120 pounds, and she did it without the help of a personal trainer. As the new SI cover model, she says, "I'd like to reach out to more women and different body types."

SI Swimsuit 2005 Covergirl, Carolyn Murphy with Lauren Jackson (inset)

The hardest part of winning the cover, she said, was having to keep the secret for 24 hours.

She couldn't tell even Boyd when she accompanied him to the Grammy Awards on Sunday.

Incubus, nominated for best hard rock performance, lost to Velvet Revolver.

"There's always competition out there," Murphy said before the Grammys were announced. "That's what makes life exciting."

Carolyn Murphy, A Winning Face & Body

Boyd may have lost on Sunday, but his girlfriend has had a winning face for years.

The native of Panama City, Florida is best known for replacing Elizabeth Hurley as the face of Estee Lauder cosmetics.

She made her acting debut in the 1999 film Liberty Heights.

This is Murphy's second appearance in the SI swimsuit issue.

More Than Supermodels

Once again, supermodels are not the only ones who posed for Sports Illustrated's 2005 swimsuit issue.

Sports Illustrated Featured 2005 Athletes

Four female athletes are featured in this year's swimsuit edition. They include:

Olympic Medallists

Amanda Beard

Amanda Beard won the 200-metre breaststroke in Athens.

Jennie Finch

Jennie Finch was a star pitcher on the gold medal U.S. Olympic softball team.

The former University of Arizona star pitched two shutouts at the Athens Olympics.

Lauren Jackson

Lauren Jackson is the 6'5" WNBA scoring leader. She was the Seattle Storm's 2003 MVP. At the Athens Olympics, the Aussie won a silver medal.

Venus Williams

Tennis Star

Venus Williams

This was the first time Williams posed for the swimsuit issue.

Her sister, Serena, appeared in the 2003 and 2004 issues.

Recently, Serena's efforts on the tennis courts paid often when she won the Australian Open.

Venus made it to the quarter-finals. But lost to Australia's Alicia Molik.

Sports Illustrated 2005 Swimsuit Couples

Heather Mitts & A.J. Feeley

A.J. Feeley is the Miami Dolphins quarterback. His girlfriend, Heather Mitts, is a member of the U.S. women's soccer team.

Jefferson and Teresa Lourenco

Richard Jefferson and Teresa Lourenco

NBA star, Richard Jefferson is a forward with the New Jersey Nets.

Jefferson and Lourenco's photo shoot took place on Coney Island in New York.

Jefferson's girlfriend Teresa Lourenco wore an itsy bitsy tweeny weeny brown, pink & white polka dot bikini made by ViX Swimwear.

Keyshawn and Shikiri Johnson

Football star, Keyshawn Johnson is a receiver for the Dallas Cowboys receiver.

His wife, Shikira wore a Dolce & Gabbana suit during their Dallas photo shoot with Chris Shipman.

Mark and Stephanie McGwire

Mark & Stephanie McGwire - Photo Credit: SI's Chris Shipman

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, and "being able to afford SI" living -- all year long!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King

Amanda Beard Models Speedo's New FastSkin Suit

Michelle Lombardo Wins 2004 Sports Illustrated Fresh Faces Model Search

New Zealand Actress & Model Rachel Hunter Launches Lingerie Line Called Ultimo Black Label

P.S. To the two "passengers" on board our Rugged Elegant Living ride who each purchased the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II Digital SLR Camera from our marketplace yesterday, thank you! We obviously have "real deal" professional photographs in our audience.

Hopefully this story will inspire them to be like SI's team of lucky pros, Walter Chin, Walter Iooss Jr., Paul Lange, Jeff Olson, Stewart Shining and Chris Shipman.

To get to a list of all the swimsuits worn by the models this year, go to a quick list of resources at: