Sinjin Smith

Sinjin Smith
U.S. Olympian / 5-time Beach Volleyball World Champion
Television Broadcaster

Christopher St. John "Sinjin" Smith is known as the original "King of the Beach" and a pioneer in the sport of beach volleyball.  He is regarded as one of the most successful and popular icons in the history of the sport.  He is credited with escalating the global popularity of beach volleyball after becoming a strong advocate and ambassador of the sport in the early 1980's.  He won the first-ever World Championship of beach volleyball in Brazil, sanctioned by the Federation Internationale de Volleyball, with long-time beach partner, Randy Stoklos.  Their historic win in Brazil took the sport from the small beaches of Southern California to the hot sands of the world.

Sinjin retired from active competition in 2002, following a long and successful career that witnessed the birth of beach volleyball in the Olympics, and the rise in popularity of the sport that now boasts over 1 billion followers.  Sinjin played a major role in the development of the business side of beach volleyball through his involvement with companies such as Sideout, Speedo, Mikasa, and others.  He is turning his focus to a new area of beach volleyball, helping future beach volleyball athletes find their way to the competitive arena with the development of the Collegiate Beach Volleyball National Championships.  The series is played in colleges and universities around the U.S., culminating in a National Championship held in Long Beach, Calif. annually.

He founded the Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos Beach Volleyball Camps, a successful venture the former championship duo launched in 2002 as a 10-week summer beach volleyball camp held at sites along the Southern California coast.  As the President of the FIVB's Beach Volleyball World Council, Sinjin oversees the development of the Swatch FIVB World Tour and its Olympic Qualification events throughout the world.  He provides color analysis of both beach and indoor volleyball for Fox Sports Net, and has worked in the past with NBC Sports, Turner Sports, and ESPN in the U.S., in addition to his work in radio in Southern California and on the Sirius Satellite Network in the U.S.   He provides the voice over for the FIVB's popular beach volleyball highlights show that is broadcast in over 100 countries around the world.  He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he led the Bruins to multiple national championships in indoor volleyball and earned All-Amercan honors.  He was inducted to the UCLA Sports Hall of Fame and his jersey retired.  Sinjin is married and resides in Pacific Palisades, California with his wife, Patty, and the couple's three sons, Hagen, Stanton, and Sinjin Patrick.

• President and Permanent Committee member of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Council.
• U.S. Beach Volleyball Olympian (Atlanta 1996)
• 5-time World Champion; 7-time U.S. Open Champion; 4-time Manhattan Beach Open Champion
• 139 career open victories (second on all-time list)
• First player to earn 100 career victories.
• Named the "Most Valuable Team of the Century" with partner, Randy Stoklos.
• Board Member, USA Volleyball (through June 2007)
• Advisory Board Member, United States Youth Volleyball League

For more information about Sinjin Smith, or to contact his management team, please email Lori Okimura at lori@creativesportsstrategies.com.