Kent Steffes (born June 23, 1968) is an American former professional beach volleyball player.

[2] He enrolled at Stanford University and played for one season before transferring to UCLA, where he graduated with a degree in economics.

[1] Steffes and his partner Karch Kiraly won the inaugural beach volleyball gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

[1] In 2020, Steffes was inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame as an All-Time Great Male Beach Player.

[9] Together with his co-author Travis Mewhirter, it chronicles the rise of beach volleyball from a 1970s rebel culture to inclusion in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and offers an in-depth look at the dramatic quarterfinal match between Steffes and his partner Karch Kiraly against Sinjin Smith and Carl Henkel.