Peter John Bennett (11 July 1926 – 4 July 2012) was an Olympian

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, 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 water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player and

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with St Kilda in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). Bennett was a full forward and topped St Kilda's goal kicking five times, with a best of 59 goals in 1950; however, he never fully recovered from a knee injury sustained in his debut match in 1944 and was among the best players in a poor team. Having already declined an invitation to represent the Australian team in water polo at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

and claimed a gold medal in the sport at the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games were the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand, between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. A documentary fil ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, in 1952 Bennett took a year off from football in order to take part in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

.Sports Reference - Peter Bennett Biography
/ref> After two more seasons at St Kilda he decided to retire from football to concentrate on water polo, and captained the Australian team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics where they finished ninth. In 2012, he was inducted into the Water Polo Australia Hall of Fame. He was educated at Wesley College and

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex education, single-sex Selective school, academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb ...

. He served as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

as a teenager during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. His wife Marjorie McQuade was an Olympic swimmer for Australia in the 1948 and 1952 games, and a triple gold medallist at the 1950 Empire Games.

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* * 1926 births 2012 deaths 20th-century Australian sportsmen Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Australian male water polo players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Collegians Football Club players Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Melbourne High School Old Boys Football Club players Military personnel from Melbourne Olympic water polo players for Australia People educated at Wesley College (Victoria) People from Brighton, Victoria Sportsmen from Victoria (state) St Kilda Football Club players Water polo players at the 1950 British Empire Games Water polo players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1956 Summer Olympics {{Australia-waterpolo-bio-stub