| Sinjin Smith | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Sinjin | ||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||
| Born | Christopher St. John Smith May 7, 1957 (1957-05-07) (age 67) Santa Monica, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) | ||||||||||||||
| College / University | University of California, Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||
| Volleyball information | |||||||||||||||
| Position | Setter | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 22 (UCLA) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
Christopher St. John "Sinjin" Smith (born May 7, 1957, in Santa Monica, California) is an American former professional beach volleyball player.[1] He was the first player to win 100 career tournaments, and won numerous Manhattan Open titles with Karch Kiraly and Randy Stoklos as partners.[2][3]
Smith went to college at UCLA, where he was a setter.[4] UCLA won the National Championship in Smith's freshman year.[5] In his junior year, the team again reached the finals before losing to Pepperdine, and Smith was selected to the All-Tournament Team.[5] In his senior year in 1979, the Bruins defeated cross-town rival USC to win the National Championship.[5] Smith was again selected to the All-Tournament Team, and was voted the Championship's Most Outstanding Player.[5] Smith was selected as an All-American in both his junior and senior years.[4]
Smith was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1991.[6]
Smith began to compete as a professional in the two-man beach volleyball tournaments of Southern California at age fifteen.[2] He won his first beach tournament with former UCLA teammate "Stormin" Mike Normand.[1] His first Manhattan Open was won in 1979 teaming with another UCLA alum, Jim Menges.[7] In the early 1980s, he made a successful beach team pairing with former UCLA teammate Kiraly.[7][2] They split up when Kiraly committed full-time to the U.S. national team.[8]
Smith moved on to partner with Stoklos, and the two became the most dominant pair in men's beach volleyball.[3][7] Smith was selected as the Best Defensive Player by the AVP in 1990, 1991, and 1992.[1] He won a bronze medal in beach volleyball at the 1994 Goodwill GamesinSaint Petersburg, Russia.[7]
By the time Smith announced his retirement in 2001, he had won 139 career tournaments.[3] He had also amassed $1,700,000 in career prize money.[1] As a primary force behind the growth of beach volleyball as a sport,[3] he was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2003.[4][2]
The pair of Smith and Stoklos was featured in the video game Kings of the Beach released by Electronic Arts for MS-DOS in 1988 and Commodore 64 in 1989, and in 1990 it was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System.[9] The pair also appeared in the 1990 film Side Out as the nemesis team of Rollo Vincent (Stoklos) and Billy Cross (Smith).[10][1]
Smith had a brief career as a television actor, appearing most notably on an episode of Magnum, P.I. as Magnum's volleyball partner who winds up dead under suspicious circumstances.[1]
In 1990, Smith was selected as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People.[6]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Inaugural |
Men's FIVB Beach Volley World Tour Winner alongside  Randy Stoklos 1989–1992 |
Succeeded by
|
|
1996 USA Olympic Volleyball Team (Men's beach - Gold & Silver medals)
| ||
|---|---|---|
| Qualification |
|
|
| Men's indoor |
| |
| Women's indoor |
| |
| Men's beach |
| |
| Women's beach |
| |
| Coaches |
| |
| International |
|
|---|---|
| National |
|
