Maeve McDermott

USATODAY

One of America's highest-profile beauty pageants just traded bikinis for athleisure.

In recent years, competitions have increasingly modernized, featuring women that break the mold of the traditional pageant queen — like Miss Missouri Erin O'Flaherty, who will compete as Miss America's first openly gay contestant this year, and Miss District of Columbia Deshauna Barber, the Army officer crowned 2016's Miss USA. But still, the much-maligned swimsuit competition remains a staple of the major pageants.

That's no longer the case for Miss Teen USA, after the Miss Universe organization announced that the pageant is going swimsuit-free. Instead, the 51 women (from the 50 states plus D.C.) will be judged in a brand-new athletic wear competition.

Pageant organizers have long said swimsuit portions were intended to show off the athleticism of the competitors. But Miss Teen USA's transition to athletic wear reads as less exploitative and more focused on the importance of physical fitness for its younger participants, aged 15-19.

“I have been an athlete my entire life. As a member of a softball team and a competitive dance team, I spend a lot of time in athletic wear,” says Katherine Haik, the reigning Miss Teen USA.

“This new direction for Miss Teen USA is a great way to celebrate the active lives that so many young women lead and set a strong example for our peers.”

The move is consistent with the overall rebranding of the Miss Universe Organization, which has shifted under WME-IMG, the talent agency that purchased it from former owner Donald Trump in September. The sale came after NBC and Univision dropped the broadcast of Miss USA following comments the Republican presidential candidate made regarding illegal immigrants.

As Miss Universe president Paula Shugart shared in a memo, Miss Teen USA's shift is meant to "celebrate women’s strength, confidence and beauty" in different, more constructive ways.

"This decision reflects an important cultural shift we’re all celebrating that empowers women who lead active, purposeful lives and encourage those in their communities to do the same," she wrote. Our hope is that this decision will help all of Miss Teen USA's fans recognize these young women for the strong, inspiring individuals they are."

“If they are looking to expand this is a very shrewd move. It’s consistent with the overall brand and message the new owners are talking about,” says pageant coach Valerie Hayes. “I think that it will cause more parents to be open to their daughters competing in a state or local Teen Miss USA pageant, because its been a concern of parents in the past.”

The pageant’s shift from swimsuits to activewear is also a smart business move, chasing the rise of athleisure fashion, says former Miss Virginia Nancy Redd. “Teens are spending .1 percent of their life in a bathing suit and 50 percent in athleisure. The pageant is following the trend of who can sponsor them.”

Reaction to the decision was overwhelmingly positive.

“This is a great step in the right direction of women embracing their physical strength, as opposed to their appearance,” says Redd, who won Miss America’s swimsuit competition in 2003. “This is focusing on what bodies can do, not just what they look like.”

Could the other pageants in the Miss Universe organization follow the lead of Miss Teen USA? Julianne Hough, the host and creative producer for this year's Miss USA, previously suggested that the competition should consider retiring the swimsuits in an interview with USA TODAY.

"There’s definitely some work I think still to be done, that’s where we’ve been talking with the producers," she said about the pageant's swimsuit portion. "In the next few years we may grow from that, but let’s see where this year goes."

Hough hinted that the Miss Universe organization would refocus its pageants on health and wellness. "They've talked about different ideas for that aspect of the competition...being confident in the fact you worked hard to get that body and you go to the gym and you eat healthy and do certain things," she said.

The 2016 Miss Teen USA pageant will be held in Las Vegas on July 30.

Cara Kelly contributed to this report.