Lausanne, Switzerland, May 19, 2014 - With the 2014 FIVB World Tour well underway, beach volleyball legend Sinjin Smith shares his candid observations.
"We are heading into another hot summer of excellence in beach volleyball, especially on the 2014 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
"We have completed two double-gender FIVB Open events as well as the FIVB Shanghai Grand Slam and it is clearly evident that the quantity as well as the quality of athletes and teams on the FIVB World Tour continues to improve dramatically.
"Just looking at the first three men’s events you see Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo winning the first two events in China to give their country its first gold in FIVB World Tour history.
"Then in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Italy’s twin brothers Paolo Ingrosso and Matteo Ingrosso had their first podium finish with a silver medal and Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros and Juan Virgen won the bronze medal to give their country its first men’s podium finish on the FIVB World Tour.
"With over 20 total FIVB World Tour events on the 2014 calendar and an FIVB-record purse of US$10.2 million being offered, the opportunities for more teams from more countries competing in more places has reached a level higher than any other in the history of FIVB international competition.
"With the addition of more FIVB Open events, there is now a platform for developing nations and up and coming teams to take to the world stage in a significant way.
"All of these FIVB accomplishments are a direct result of the vision, passion and acumen that the new leadership of the organization is exhibiting in just over a year since it accepted the responsibility to govern the international beach volleyball organization.
"Now the hottest days of summer begin as the men resume play in Russia next week at the double-gender FIVB Anapa Open to launch a schedule of eight events, including seven FIVB Grand Slams over a nine-week window in seven countries.
"After stops in Russia (Moscow), Germany (Berlin), Norway (Stavanger), Switzerland (Gstaad) Netherlands (The Hague), on July 22-27, the FIVB World Tour returns to the United States for the second straight year following a 10-year absence for the US$1 million FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam.
"The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam is again part of the new ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball and together with the FIVB Hague Grand Slam and the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships, all have $1 Million in prize money which are the largest purses in FIVB and the sports history.
"After last year’s dynamic debut, I expect the USA event to become one of the big three events that include the Olympics and the FIVIB World Championships that International teams will feel like they have to win to go down in history as one of the great teams to play the sport.
"The 2nd annual World Series of Beach Volleyball will also have massive Co-ed 4’s, Single Gender 6 Person, Co-ed 6 Person, Collegiate doubles, and 4 Youth division Tournaments. The semifinals and medal matches of the FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam will be televised nationally in the USA on the NBC Sports Network and Universal along with the FIVB international broadcast to over 100 nations.
"The FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam is also an Olympic qualifier on the road to Rio and the 2016 Olympic Games, a celebration of all things beach, with a music festival and a chance for amateur players to spike alongside the pros."
Beach Volleyball legend Sinjin Smith of the United States won the first four FIVB World Tour titles from 1989-92 (with Randy Stoklos. In his domestic and international career, he competed in 416 all-time total domestic and international pro beach tournaments with 139 gold medals overall. A two-time UCLA volleyball All-America player, he was also in the first Olympic Games where beach volleyball was a medal sport, finishing fifth with Carl Henkel at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. In addition to TV commentating assignments, he and Randy also have beach volleyball camps throughout Southern California and Sinjin is also an active member of the FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission.