Ben-Rachmiel Labowitch (born 1 July 1980) is a New Zealand former swimmer, who specialized in breaststroke events. Since his mother is a New Zealand citizen, Labowitch claims a dual citizenship which allowed him to try out and make the New Zealand Olympic team. Labowitch is also a former member of North Shore Swim Club under his coach Thomas Ensorg, and a graduate of

Drury University Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,700 undergraduate and grad ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

, where he played for the

Drury Panthers The Drury Panthers are the athletic teams that represent Drury University, located in Springfield, Missouri, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Panthers compete as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference for all 18 varsity sports ...

. Labowitch qualified for three swimming events at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. He posted FINA B-standard entry times of 1:04.35 (100 m breaststroke) and 2:18.10 (200 m breaststroke) from the Olympic trials in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. On the first day of the Games, Labowitch shared a thirty-sixth place tie with Puerto Rico's

Arsenio López Arsenio Alexander López Rosario (born May 3, 1979), also known as Alex Lopez, is a Puerto Rican former swimmer and three-time Olympian who specialized in breaststroke and individual medley events. Lopez was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico. He att ...

in the 100 m breaststroke. Swimming in heat three, he edged out Lithuania's Aurimas Valaitis to break a 1:04 barrier and seize a third seed by 0.12 of a second in 1:03.99. In his second event, 200 m breaststroke, Labowitch challenged seven other swimmers in heat two, including dual citizen

Mihail Alexandrov Mihail Alexandrov ( bg, Михаил Александров) (born April 9, 1985) is an Olympic swimmer from Bulgaria. He swam for Bulgaria at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. Alexandrov has been swimming for the USA since 2009. Alexandrov, who has ...

of Bulgaria. He raced to seventh place and thirty-ninth overall in 2:19.25, just 1.15 seconds off his entry time. He also teamed up with Scott Talbot-Cameron,

Corney Swanepoel Corney Swanepoel (born 17 March 1986 in Potchefstroom, South Africa) is a butterfly swimmer from New Zealand. He swam for New Zealand at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () ...

, and

Cameron Gibson Cameron Michael "Cam" Gibson (born 14 August 1982 in Auckland) is a New Zealand swimming competitor. He won a bronze medal in the 200m backstroke at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in a time of 2:00.72 minutes. He competed at the 2004 Summer Olymp ...

in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. Swimming the breaststroke leg in heat two, Labowitch recorded a time of 1:03.88, but the New Zealand team missed the final by 5 seconds, finishing in seventh place and twelfth overall with a final time of 3:42.74.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Labowitch, Ben 1980 births Living people New Zealand male breaststroke swimmers Olympic swimmers for New Zealand Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Fremantle Sportsmen from Western Australia Australian people of New Zealand descent Drury Panthers men's swimmers Jewish swimmers New Zealand Jews Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people