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For the past 28 years, he has kissed his wife Janna good-bye in the morning and headed for work with a pair of trunks and sandals on and a bottle of sunscreen in his hand.

Karch Kiraly has made the beach his office longer than anyone else in his sport. And along the way, he's won more tournaments (148), more Olympic gold medals (3) and made more money ($3 million in career earnings) than anybody in volleyball.

So, why in the world at age 46 is he still playing in pro events like this weekend's AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Miami Open at Bicentennial Park against players half his age? Aside from trying to win some more, Kiraly said he's trying to prove athletes can age gracefully and still win without cheating or using performance enhancing drugs.

''I'm not necessarily in the camp where you retire at the top -- I want to push the envelope,'' Kiraly said.

``I'm certainly not the same player I was 10 years ago, I'm not jumping as high. I'm not able to hit those, radical, straight-down shots like I used to . . . but I'm all right with that. I don't want to take human growth hormones or do all the other steroids that are out there. I want people to see an athlete can age reasonably gracefully and not resort to cheating to do it.''

On Saturday, on the first day of the main draw, the only time Kiraly showed he was still human was when he ducked out of the South Florida heat for some shade and water. He and his signature pink hat -- the same one he began wearing during a record 13-tournament winning streak in 1992 with then teammate Kent Steffes -- went through more than three gallons of water, either drinking or dousing himself with it, in each of his five matches.

At the end of his the day, Kiraly and new teammate Kevin Wong, the 10th seeded men's team, staved off elimination by beating Paul Baxter and Kenyan Ceman 21-15, 20-22, 15-12 for the fourth victory in a 11-hours worth of sweat and grit.

Win or lose today, Kiraly will stick around today to watch what has now become the biggest attraction on the tour -- the top women's team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, who won gold in the last Olympics and made news Saturday when they actually dropped a set to Katie and Tracy Lindquist in the second round.

The four-time defending women's champs are expected to play in today's women's final, which follows the men's final at 2:30 p.m. Kiraly isn't expected to get to the men's final or past the current crop of top men's teams. But that doesn't mean the fire is gone -- or his love for hecklers and rowdy fans.

''I'd love to win another one,'' Kiraly said. ``and push that record for oldest champ back a few more years.''

It's been nearly two years since Kiraly last won an event, when he and former teammate Mike Lambert won at Huntington Beach, Calif., in July 2005. After this weekend, he'll play in 10 more AVP events, hoping to push the record for oldest player to win a tournament from 44 to 46.

And while three shoulder surgeries and knee trouble last year have slowed him down considerably, that doesn't mean his friends aren't rooting to see one last victory from him.

''He is one in a million,'' Walsh said. ``I don't think they'll ever be another Karch Kiraly.''

Many players, including Jake Gibb say they too are enthralled by the Kiraly phenomenon, often going to watch him play between their own matches.

''I look at him as a volleyball god,'' Gibb said. ``What he still does to this day at 45 -- he's still balling.

``I'll go over and watch his match when I don't have a match going just to get my final glimpses of him to learn one final thing we should all learn from the guy we should all be learning from.''

Kiraly said he has learned a lot as his body has begun to grow older. He admits his famed 41-inch vertical is long gone and said he hasn't bothered to check what it is now out of fear it will depress him. But with time, he says, he's learned how to win with smarts.

''It was natural for Michael Jordan to get old, and I admired him aging, becoming a little less explosive, but still being a great player,'' Kiraly said.

``I don't mind it if people say Karch isn't the same player. But can I still win? There is something to be said when you struggle to win when your incapacitated.''

Kiraly showed that three seasons ago when when at age 43 he and Mike Lambert teammed up to with the AVP tour title -- even with Kiraly playing the final stretch of the season with a separated shoulder and unable to leap up for spikes or blocks.

'I never would have thought six years later, six years after being were saying `Karch is done,' to be back on top,'' Kiraly said. ``I'm proud of that accomplishment. To win a tournament with no shoulder and everybody knowing it in the stadium, including my opponents is amazing and that's nothing to be embarrassed about.''

``To be honest, all of this has been icing on the cake. It could have easily been over 10 years ago. That's why it is really not that hard to know that this is my final year when I got 10 extra years I wasn't at all sure I would be able to get.''

The only thing Kiraly gets embarrassed about is flaunting his victories. His three gold medals -- two won with the U.S. team indoors in 1984 and 1988 -- are tucked away in a drawer in his home along with the three national championship rings he won at UCLA.

The game has changed plenty since Kiraly played in the first professional U.S. event on Huntington Beach with his high school coach in 1978. When he started playing, beach volleyball was a defensive game and players were not allowed to cross the net with their hands. In the time since, bigger players have entered, blocks, spikes and jump serves have thrilled fans, the court has shrunk by 20 percent and men and women are finally playing together on the same tour.

''Other than that,'' Kiraly joked. ``Nothing has really changed. It's the same game.''

After his pro career is over, Kiraly said he wants to spend more time with his two boys, 16-year-old Krisitian and 15-year-old Kory, who recently picked up the sport and began playing it in high school.

In addition to coaching his kids, Kiraly will launch his own volleyball academy, which will feature a pair of five-day camps for high school girls as well a grassroots tournament for amateurs in Huntington.

As for the AVP Tour, he said he hopes it will continue to expand. He hopes the next step is to include more international players, who currently play in Europe, and the growth of a feeder tour. He said he'd also like to see the sport highlighted on ESPN's SportsCenter, something that rarely happens right now.

While he says the AVP has not spoken with him about having an official role with the tour once he retires, he says if a job were to arise he would seriously consider it.

''I wanted to remembered as a guy who played at a really high level for a long time and really cared about what he was doing,'' Kiraly said. ``And loved what he was doing.''

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