Sinjin Smith
{{short description|American beach volleyball player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox volleyball biography
| name = Sinjin Smith
| image =
| caption =
| fullname =
| nickname = Sinjin
| birth_name = Christopher St. John Smith
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|May 7, 1957}}
| birth_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| height = 6'3"
| position = Setter
| teamnumber = 22 (UCLA)
| college = University of California, Los Angeles
| medaltemplates-expand = yes
| medaltemplates-title = Medal record
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Men's beach volleyball }}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | Goodwill Games }}
{{MedalBronze | 1994 Saint Petersburg | Beach }}
}}
Christopher St. John "Sinjin" Smith (born May 7, 1957) is an American former professional beach volleyball player. He was the first player to win 100 career tournaments, and won numerous Manhattan Open titles with Karch Kiraly and Randy Stoklos as partners.{{Cite web |url=https://www.volleyhall.org/sinjin-smith.html |website=International Volleyball Hall of Fame |title=Sinjin Smith |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723173640/https://www.volleyhall.org/sinjin-smith.html |archive-date=July 23, 2023 |url-status=live }}
College
Smith went to college at UCLA, where he was a setter.{{Cite web |url=https://uclabruins.com/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/sinjin-smith/217 |title=Sinjin Smith |website=UCLA Athletics |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230725031314/https://uclabruins.com/sports/mens-volleyball/roster/coaches/sinjin-smith/217 |archive-date=July 25, 2023 |url-status=live }} UCLA won the National Championship in Smith's freshman year. In his junior year, the team again reached the finals before losing to Pepperdine, and Smith was selected to the All-Tournament Team.{{Cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_volleyball_champs_records/2013/d1/2013_NC_Champ.pdf |website=NCAA |title=National Collegiate Men's (Volleyball) |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230524183524/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_volleyball_champs_records/2013/d1/2013_NC_Champ.pdf |archive-date=May 24, 2023 |url-status=live }} In his senior year in 1979, the Bruins defeated cross-town rival USC to win the National Championship. Smith was again selected to the All-Tournament Team, and was voted the Championship's Most Outstanding Player. Smith was selected as an All-American in both his junior and senior years.
Smith was inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame in 1991.{{Cite web |url=https://uclabruins.com/honors/hall-of-fame/sinjin-smith/317 |title=Sinjin Smith |website=UCLA Athletics |access-date=September 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014094003/https://uclabruins.com/honors/hall-of-fame/sinjin-smith/317 |archive-date=October 14, 2022 |url-status=live }}
Beach volleyball
Smith began to compete as a professional in the two-man beach volleyball tournaments of Southern California at age fifteen. When he started playing beach volleyball, players were motivated primarily by the prestige of winning tournaments rather than money, since winnings were relatively meager.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/26/sports/beach-volleyball-king-of-the-beach-becomes-a-career.html |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Beach Volleyball; King of the Beach Becomes a Career |date=July 26, 1994 |page=B11 |access-date=September 6, 2024 }} {{subscription required}} He won his first beach tournament with former UCLA teammate "Stormin" Mike Normand.{{Cite web |url=http://www.bvbinfo.com/player.asp?ID=151|website=Beach Volleyball Database |title=Christopher 'Sinjin' Smith |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518140332/http://www.bvbinfo.com/player.asp?ID=151 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |url-status=live }} He won his first Manhattan Open in 1979 teaming with another UCLA alum, Jim Menges.{{Cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51969 |website=Olympedia |title=Sinjin Smith |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605142346/https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/51969 |archive-date=June 5, 2021 |url-status=live }} In the early 1980s, he made a successful beach team pairing with former UCLA teammate Kiraly. They split up when Kiraly committed full-time to the U.S. national team.{{Cite web|url=https://olympics.com/en/athletes/charles-kiraly |website=Olympics.com |title=Charles Frederick Kiraly |access-date=July 25, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819002337/https://olympics.com/en/athletes/charles-kiraly |archive-date=August 19, 2022 |url-status=live }}
Smith moved on to partner with Stoklos, and the two became the most dominant pair in men's beach volleyball.{{Cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-11-sp-33015-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |title=At Age 44, Smith Draws Line in Sand |date=August 11, 2001 |last=Bresnahan |first=Mike |access-date=July 24, 2023 }} {{subscription required}} Smith was selected as the Best Defensive Player by the AVP in 1990, 1991, and 1992. He won a bronze medal in beach volleyball at the 1994 Goodwill Games in Saint Petersburg.
By the time Smith announced his retirement in 2001, he had won 139 career tournaments. He had also amassed $1,700,000 in career prize money. As a primary force behind the growth of beach volleyball as a sport, he was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2002 and the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Popular culture
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.{{Cite web |url=https://gamesnostalgia.com/game/kings-of-the-beach |title=Kings of the Beach |website=Games Nostalgia |date=May 28, 2018 |author=Manu |access-date=August 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801212308/https://gamesnostalgia.com/game/kings-of-the-beach |archive-date=August 1, 2023 |url-status=live }} The pair also appeared in the 1990 film Side Out as the nemesis team of Rollo Vincent (Stoklos) and Billy Cross (Smith).{{Cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100613/ |website=IMDb |title=Side Out (1990) |access-date=July 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815121217/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100613/ |archive-date=August 15, 2022 |url-status=live }}
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.
In 1990, Smith was selected as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People.
Awards
- Two-time All-American 1978, 1979
- Two-time NCAA Champion 1976, 1979
- NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player 1979
- AVP Best Defensive Player 1990, 1991, 1992
- UCLA Hall of Fame 1991
- Goodwill Games beach volleyball bronze medal 1994
- CBVA Hall of Fame 2002
- International Volleyball Hall of Fame 2003
References
External links
- {{Beach Volleyball Database|151}}
- {{Olympics.com profile|christopher-st-john-s-smith}}
- {{FIVB beach player}}
- [https://www.volleyhall.org/sinjin-smith.html Sinjin Smith], biography from the International Volleyball Hall of Fame
- [https://socalindoorvolleyballhof.com/sinjin-smith-2017/ Sinjin Smith], biography from the Southern California Indoor Volleyball Hall of Fame
- [https://uclabruins.com/honors/hall-of-fame/sinjin-smith/317 UCLA Hall of Fame profile]
{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{Succession box
| before = Inaugural
| title = Men's FIVB Beach Volley World Tour Winner
alongside {{flagicon|USA}} Randy Stoklos
| years = 1989–1992
| after = {{flagathlete|Roberto Lopes
and Franco Neto | BRA}}
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Footer USA Volleyball 1996 Summer Olympics}}
{{Volleyball Hall of Fame members}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sinjin}}
Category:American men's beach volleyball players
Category:Beach volleyball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Category:Olympic beach volleyball players for the United States
Category:Sportspeople from Santa Monica, California
Category:UCLA Bruins men's volleyball players
Category:Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games
Category:Goodwill Games medalists in beach volleyball