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

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

who won two medals at the

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

. He later unsuccessfully stood as a 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, 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, abbreviated as a 4+, is a racing shell 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 ...

, 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 du ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 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 football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

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) ** Smal ...

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 games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

Politics

Waters was a carpenter and union organiser, and was described as an "incisive critic of

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

policy". During

World War II 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 ...

he was serving as a

leading aircraftman Leading aircraftman (LAC) or leading aircraftwoman (LACW) is an enlisted rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Leading air ...

in the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

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

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

Stan Goosman Sir William Stanley Goosman (2 July 1890 – 10 June 1969) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party and a road-haulier and contractor. Biography Goosman was born in 1890 at Auckland. William Massey was his uncle. He receiv ...

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 Dame Grace Hilda Cuthbertha Ross (née Nixon; 6 July 1883 – 6 March 1959), known as Hilda Ross, was a New Zealand politician for the National Party and an activist. Early years Nixon was born in Auckland to Adam (a fireman who later became ...

, by 2252 votes. In

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

, 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, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

, 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 was born in Wellington, New Zealand, to Arthur Archibald 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 gold medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games silver 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 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen