Jesse Smith (born April 27, 1983) is an American

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

utility player. He was an All-American at Pepperdine University. Smith is a 2008 Olympic silver medalist and a five-time Olympian (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020). He played for Panathinaikos in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

Career

High school

Smith played water polo for Coronado High School. He helped the team win three San Diego Section CIF Division II titles from 1998 to 2000. He was named the San Diego Union Tribune Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000."Jesse Smith"
. usawaterpolo.org. Retrieved August 23, 2012.

College

Smith then played for Pepperdine University. He was named to the All-American first team in 2002 and 2004. In 2003, he led Pepperdine with 55 goals.

International

At the 2003 Pan American Games, Smith scored in three games and helped the U.S. win the tournament. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, he scored nine goals. The U.S. finished seventh. Smith scored six goals in the 2005 FINA World Championships, but the U.S. finished in 11th place. Smith, who scored eight goals, was a member of the team that won a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games. He was also a member of the teams that finished fifth in both the 2006 and 2007 FINA World League Super Finals. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Smith scored three goals and helped win a silver medal for the U.S. In 2009, Smith played on the U.S. fourth-place teams at the World Super League Final and World Championships. The U.S. also finished fourth in the 2010 FINA World Cup. In the 2011 Pan American Games, Smith scored six goals, as the U.S. won the gold medal in that tournament again. He scored three goals at the 2012 Summer Olympics; the U.S. finished eighth.

Professional

Smith has played professionally for

's Ethnikos Piraeus, Olympiacos Piraeus, Egypt's Gezira,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

's Galatasaray,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

's Savona and

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's Jadran Herceg Novi.

Personal

Smith was born in Kailua, Hawaii, on April 27, 1983. He lives in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tr ...

."Jesse Smith"
teamusa.org. Retrieved August 23, 2012. He is 6 feet, 4 inches tall. Smith is married and has two sons, Brooks and Samuel. His father played water polo at Coronado High School. His brother played water polo at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

."Jesse Smith"
. london2012.com. Retrieved August 23, 2012.

References

External links