Edward Arthur "Ben" Waters (13 October 1907 – 30 October 1992) was a New Zealand

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

who won two medals at the

1930 British Empire Games The 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what now is known as the Commonwealth Games, and were held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The games were organized by ''Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

. He later unsuccessfully stood as a

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

parliamentary candidate at several elections.

Early life and family

Born at Marton on 13 October 1907, Waters was the son of Thomas Edward Waters and Grace Hannah Eliza Waters (née Mainwaring). He married Kathleen Mary Dobson on 12 August 1933, and the couple went on to have five children.

Sporting career

Rowing

A member of the Hamilton Rowing Club, Waters began rowing as a 17-year-old. In 1929 he was a member of the Hamilton four that won the national championship. In March of the following year, he participated in a trial race for selection of the New Zealand team to compete at the 1930 British Empire Games in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, but was not initially chosen for the 12-man squad. However, he was included in the final squad selected in late June, and competed in both the men's eight and coxed four at the 1930 Empire Games. He won a gold medal in the

coxed four A coxed four, also known as a 4+, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oa ...

, alongside Mick Brough, Jack Macdonald, Bert Sandos, and Arthur Eastwood (cox), and a silver medal in the eights, finishing three-quarters of a boat length behind the victorious English crew. Selected for the New Zealand rowing squad to compete at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Waters was unable to afford to attend. Waters later served as chairman of the Hamilton Rowing Club for almost 25 years.

Other sports

Waters played two

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

matches as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

at a provincial level for in 1929, and was later a Waikato rugby administrator. He also played representative

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

Politics

Waters was a carpenter and union organiser, and was described as an "incisive critic of National Party policy". During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was serving as a

leading aircraftman Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is a junior rank in some air forces. It sits between aircraftman and senior aircraftman, and has a NATO rank code of OR-2. The rank badge is a horizontal two-bladed propeller. The ra ...

in the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...

when he stood as the Labour Party candidate for the electorate at the 1943 general election. He finished second, 1881 votes behind the National Party incumbent,

Walter Broadfoot Sir Walter James Broadfoot (6 April 1881 – 10 September 1965) was a New Zealand politician of the United Party, and from 1936, the National Party. He was a cabinet minister from 1949 to 1954 in the First National Government. Biography Ea ...

. At the 1946 general election, Waters contested the newly created electorate, losing by 5111 votes to

Stan Goosman Stan or STAN may refer to: People * Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name ** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy * Stan (surname), a Romanian surname * Stan! (born 1964), American author, ...

of the National Party. Waters stood for Labour in the electorate at the 1951 election, but was defeated by National's incumbent MP, Hilda Ross, by 2252 votes. In

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

, Waters again stood against Ross in Hamilton, reducing her majority to 1430. Following Ross's death in 1959, Waters contested the resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, but lost to

Lance Adams-Schneider Sir Lancelot Raymond Adams-Schneider (11 November 1919 – 3 September 1995) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. Biography Early life and career Lancelot Raymond Adams-Schneider was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Arthur A ...

from National by 2988 votes.

Later life and death

Waters became a builder and building supervisor. He lived in retirement in Hamilton, and was predeceased by his wife, Kathleen, in 1973. Waters himself died on 30 October 1992, and he was buried at Hamilton East Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Ben 1907 births 1992 deaths People from Marton, New Zealand New Zealand male rowers Rowers at the 1930 British Empire Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games silver medallists for New Zealand Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing New Zealand rugby union players Waikato rugby union players Rugby union forwards New Zealand cricketers New Zealand male tennis players New Zealand military personnel of World War II Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel New Zealand trade unionists New Zealand Labour Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1946 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1951 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1954 New Zealand general election New Zealand sports executives and administrators New Zealand sportsperson-politicians Burials at Hamilton East Cemetery Rugby union players from Manawatū-Whanganui Medallists at the 1930 British Empire Games