On October 23, San Jose State sophomore swimmer Andreea Dragoi won the Miss Ambassador US Nation Beauty Pageant, just less than two months after she won the Miss California U.S. Nation Pageant. By virtue of her title as Miss California U.S. Nation, Dragoi qualified to participate in the Miss U.S. Nation Beauty Pageant that took place in Washington D.C., where she ran against different local beauty pageant winners across the country.
The Miss US Nation pageant is one out of the several national-level beauty pageants in America, which includes the Miss USA pageant (which selects the American entrant for the Miss Universe pageant) and the Miss America pageant. According to the Miss US Nation pageant website, the competition is “focused on molding the careers of aspiring models by helping the young ladies with self-awareness, confidence building, public speaking & gaining the proper exposure to reach their goals.”
Participants in the Miss US Nation Pageant have to go through four rounds of judging: a panel interview where they are tested on their speaking skills, a portion of the competition where the contestant has to wear a swimsuit/athletic wear so they can be judged based on their dedication to a “healthy, fit, lifestyle”, a stage showing where contestants wear a floor-length evening gown to be judged based on their “poise, elegance, and stage presence”, and an on-stage question which tests the contestants’ ability to think on their feet.
“I am grateful for all the people I have in my life that make me happy and support me. And I am thankful that I now can have a say and influence the stereotypes and stigmas in the pageant and modeling world.” Dragoi said of her pageant run. “This accomplishment means a better version of myself as I learn many new things from every pageant, every girl, every different culture, and lastly a new experience”
Dragoi has been able to successfully balance being a swimmer and a beauty pageant this NCAA season, having participated in almost all of San Jose State’s meets (only missing the November 4 meet against Stanford). She most recently competed at the 2022 Missouri Invite, where she finished 28th in the 50 free (26.28), 12th in the 100 fly (57.28), and 6th in the 200 fly (2:05.50) and set season-bests in all of her events (her season-best in the 200 fly is a 2:05.38 from prelims).
In her freshman year at SJSU (the 2021-22 NCAA season), Dragoi qualified for the 2022 CSCAA National Championships, where she once again swam the 200 fly and finished 23rd. She also competed at the 2022 Mountain West Conference Championships, where she scored 15 points for SJSU by placing 12th in the 200 fly and setting a best time of 2:02.22.
A native of Romania, Dragoi has represented her birth country at multiple international competitions like the 2019 European and World Junior Championships, where she placed 17th in the 200 fly, 27th in the 200 IM, and 34th in both the 50 and 100 fly at the latter meet.
Dragoi’s Best Times (SCY and LCM):
- 100 yard fly: 56.95
- 200 yard fly: 2:02.22
- 50 meter fly: 28.74
- 100 meter fly: 1:02.03
- 200 meter fly: 2:15.38
- 200 meter IM: 2:20.96
Although Dragoi has seen success both as a swimmer and a beauty pageant, it did not come without challenge. She had to endure two serious injuries recently, as she first dislocated her kneecap in 2019 and then partially tore her ACL in fall 2021, which caused her to miss training for three weeks. Because of her physical setbacks, she has chosen to study rehabilitation sciences in college.
Dragoi isn’t the only person in the swimming community who has been involved in beauty pageants before. In fact, the most notable “beauty queen” connected to swimming also came from California. Nicole Johnson (who now goes by Nicole Phelps), the wife of 28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, won the Miss California USA title in 2010, and placed ninth overall in the national-level Miss USA competition that year.
Wowza.
Congratulations, but why are beauty pageants still a thing!? Just for men to ogle women and tell them this is what you need to look like to be beautiful?
Implying women are voluntarily competing in pageants to satisfy what men want makes YOU the sexist.
Wasn’t implying anything about contestants motives for entering. Just implying why they may still be around. If it was truly for women to feel confident and empowered, I’m sure the contestant pool/winners would be a little more diverse and of all shapes and sizes
Lemme go enter a body building comp real quick… so that they get more shapes and sizes 💀💀
With all respect for Ms. Dragoi – Beauty pageants clearly have nothing to do with swimming, so is this SwimSwam news purely b/c it involves a college swimmer (and this is at least the second article on this matter)? And does that mean all “off the field” evens/accomplishments for college swimmers are swim news? Choir concerts, Dean’s List honors, impressive job offers … are those all newsworthy? I’m not trying to be snarky — I’m genuinely curious how SwimSwam makes editorial decisions about coverage.
I mean, you are trying to be snarky
Many swimmers can get on the deans list or pick up an impressive job offer. Not many swimmers can simultaneously swim on a DI level and win a national-level beauty competition. It’s a unique accomplishment and it’s related to a swimmer.
We might not report on every outside-the-pool accomplishment of swimmers, but for the ones that are extraordinary, we will. We’ve written about Carsten Vissering making the U.S. National bobsled team, Yui Ohashi being on the cover of Vogue, Lydia Jacoby playing the bass, Adam Peaty/Pernille Blume in a dance show, etc. Swimmers aren’t one-dimensional and forever tied to their performances in the pool, and emphasizing unique things that they do outside the pool grows their brand as swimmers.
How is being beautiful an accomplishment?
It’s not 1942 anymore. Everything evolves, even pageants. “Being beautiful” is no longer the only component of a pageant (and that’s why they’re no longer referred to as “beauty” pageants). They test intelligence, poise, public speaking, fitness, talents…those things all take work and I would consider being good at them as much of an accomplishment as being good at splashing around in a pool.
Clicks matter… also I like getting several articles a day on here… this isn’t the one to be complaining about.
I’m curious which article this is in reference to.
Not anything particular from my end, you see a lot of “why is swimswam reporting on this” comments floating around. Usually involves something political, but it doesn’t bother me. Not sure why someone would be bothered by a swimmer/pageant girl unless they are just bored and need to complain about something.
I guess if I had to stretch, I can see the side of people that seem to be bothered when there are articles about little kids (10/u) that are in the NAG rankings or getting “swimmer of the year” awards… but again I’m stretching
So you don’t want to see articles of former swimmers and Olympians getting married and having children either?
Loser
Didn’t know that beauty contest was still a thing. Guess I haven’t watched TV for a while. Good for her, though, if that’s what she set out to do.