Ben Waters

Born at Marton on 13 October 1907, Waters was the son of Thomas Edward Waters and Grace Hannah Eliza Waters (née Mainwaring).^[2][3] He married Kathleen Mary Dobson on 12 August 1933,^[4] and the couple went on to have five children.^[5]

A member of the Hamilton Rowing Club, Waters began rowing as a 17-year-old.^[6] In 1929 he was a member of the Hamilton four that won the national championship.^[6] 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, but was not initially chosen for the 12-man squad.^[7] However, he was included in the final squad selected in late June,^[8] and competed in both the men's eight and coxed four at the 1930 Empire Games.^[9] He won a gold medal in the coxed four, 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.^[10]

Selected for the New Zealand rowing squad to compete at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Waters was unable to afford to attend.^[5]

Waters later served as chairman of the Hamilton Rowing Club for almost 25 years.^[5]

Waters played two rugby union matches as a forward at a provincial level for Waikato in 1929, and was later a Waikato rugby administrator.^{[5][11][12][13]} He also played representative cricket and tennis.^[5]