Ben Cureton
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Benjamin Cureton (born 11 February 1981 in
Perth, Western Australia Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
) is an Australian former lightweight rower. He was an eight-time national champion, a world champion and a three-time Olympian. He won his world championship in the men's lightweight fours, and an Olympic silver medal in that boat class in
Athens 2004 Athens 2004 may refer to: * 2004 Summer Olympics * 2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internati ...
. He competed at two further Olympics in this discipline. For a twelve-year period from 2001 – excepting 2009 and 2010 – Cureton held his seat in all the Australian lightweight coxless fours selected to race at the premier world regattas.


Club and state rowing

Cureton attended
Trinity College, Perth Trinity College is an independent school, independent day school for boys, located on the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River foreshore in East Perth, Western Australia. The school was established in 1962 when students from the city scho ...
where he took up rowing. His senior club rowing was from the
Swan River Rowing Club The Swan River Rowing Club is a rowing club that was founded in 1887 in Perth, Western Australia. It has had rowing sheds at different locations on the Swan River. The Canning River was a location of regattas and social events for the club. In ...
in Perth. From 1999 to 2004; 2006 to 2008 and 2011 to 2012 Cureton was selected to represent Western Australia in the men's lightweight four contesting the Penrith Cup at the Interstate Regatta within the Australian Rowing Championships. He was in the victorious West Australian fours of 2002, 2007, 2008 and stroked that crew in 2007. Wearing Swan River Rowing Club colours he contested national lightweight titles at the
Australian Rowing Championships The Australian Rowing Championships is an annual rowing event that determines Australia's national rowing champions and facilitates selection of Australian representative crews for World Championships and the Olympic Games. It is Australia's pre ...
from 1999. He competed in the lightweight coxless pair championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; the lightweight four in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008; and the lightweight men's eight in 2005 and 2008. He won national titles in 2005 in the pair and the four; in 2006 in the pair; in 2007 in the four; and in 2008 in the pair.


International representative rowing

Cureton was first selected to Australian representative rowing in a junior
quad scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated as a 4x, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each h ...
to compete at the World Junior Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1999. They placed fourth.Cureton at World Rowing
/ref> In 2000 aged just nineteen he was elevated to the Australian senior lightweight squad and into the men's eight. They competed at the lightweight-only
2000 World Rowing Championships The 2000 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 1 to 6 August 2000 in conjunction with the World Junior Rowing Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. Since 2000 was an Olympic year for rowing, the World Champi ...
in Zagreb and won a bronze medal. The following year Cureton was vying for places in the men's lightweight eight and the
coxless four A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four ...
. He competed in the four at World Rowing Cup IV that year in Munich, and for the 2001 World Championships in Lucerne he raced in the Australian coxless four to a ninth placing and in the eight who finished sixth overall. In 2002 in a crew with the veteran Tasmanian lightweight
Simon Burgess Simon Burgess (born 11 September 1967 in Franklin, Tasmania) is an Australian national champion, two-time World Champion, three-time Olympian and dual Olympic silver medal-winning lightweight rower. He represented Australia ten times at World Ro ...
, Cureton raced in the coxless four at a World Rowing Cup in Munich and at the
2002 World Rowing Championships The 2002 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 15 to 22 September 2002 on the Guadalquivir at Seville, Spain. Adaptive events were held for the first time at a World Championships. Medal summary Men's e ...
in Seville to a fourth placing. For the Athens Olympics 2004 Cureton was selected in the Australian lightweight coxless four, along with Simon Burgess and Anthony Edwards who were both making their third Olympic appearances. They qualified through to the final where Danish favourites got away in the 1st 500m. Burgess at stroke and Cureton in the three seat brought the Australian four back into contention in the second and third 500 metres. However the Danes still had something in reserve in the rush home extending their lead to 1.4 seconds at the finish. The Australians won the Olympic silver. Following his 2004 Olympic campaign Cureton was back in representative contention in 2006 and selected in the lightweight coxless four for two World Rowing Cups in Europe before the
2006 World Rowing Championships The 2006 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 20 to 27 August 2006 at Dorney Lake, Dorney, Great Britain. Medal summary Men Non-Olympic classes Women Non-Olympic classes Pararowing The Pararowi ...
at Eton Dorney where the Australian four finished sixth. He was teamed in that crew with fellow West Australian Todd Skipworth with whom he would have a long representative partnership and success. Cureton with Edwards, Skipworth and the addition of Rod Chisholm from New South Wales, stayed together in the Australian lightweight coxless four throughout 2007 and 2008. They raced at a 2007 World Rowing Cup and then at the
2007 World Rowing Championships The 2007 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 26 August to 2 September 2007 at Oberschleißheim Regatta Course in Oberschleißheim near Munich, Germany. Medal summary Men's events Non-Olympic classes ...
in Munich to a seventh placing. Their lead-up to the
2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
included a third place at the World Rowing Cup III in Poznan and a seventh place at the WRC I. In Beijing the experienced lightweight foursome didn't figure in the medals in the tough Olympic conditions, they made the B final and finished in ninth place overall. Cureton again took time off immediately after the 2008 Olympics and was back competing at the top level in 2010. He was a reserve for the Australian lightweight eight at the
2010 World Rowing Championships The 2010 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 31 October to 7 November 2010 on Lake Karapiro near Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, New Zealand. The annual week-long rowing (sport), rowing regatta was or ...
and competed in one event in that crew. He didn't gain a seat in either the eight or the four when they both won silver medal at those championships in Lake Karapiro. He did regain his seat in the four in 2011 and was a key part of their world championship success. They raced at the World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne to a fourth placing and then at the
2011 World Rowing Championships The 2011 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 28 August to 4 September 2011 at Lake Bled, adjoining the Slovenian city of Bled. The annual week-long rowing regatta is organized by World Rowing Federatio ...
in Bled they staged a brilliant campaign. Second in their heat, they had to qualify for the final through a repechage and semi-final. In the final they rowed through the field from a fifth position at the 500m mark, to be 2nd at both the 1000 and 1500 and overtook the Italians in final run to take the gold medal with a 1.2 second margin. Cureton thus won his first senior world championship title, twelve years after first racing in Australian representative colours. Their world champion status qualified the lightweight foursome for the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
for which they prepared by racing at two World Rowing Cups in Europe. At the 2012 Olympic regatta they placed second in the heat, third in the semi-final and made the Olympic final, finishing in fourth place. Less than one and a quarter seconds separated the 1st to 4th crews. It was Cureton's and Skipworth's last Australian representative appearance and they both retired at point. Cureton and Skipworth had won six Australian national titles together in Swan River colours; raced for Western Australia together five times for two national championship wins and represented Australia in the same boat at two Olympics and three World Championships.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cureton, Benjamin 1981 births Living people Rowers from Perth, Western Australia Rowers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Australian male rowers Olympic medalists in rowing Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for Australia 21st-century Australian sportsmen Sportsmen from Western Australia People educated at Trinity College, Perth