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Born in Wellington but raised in the small North Canterbury beach town of Waikuku he grew up enjoying a range of sports and competed in the sport of surf lifesaving.
Ben started kayaking at the age of 17 initially to improve his surf ski paddling. However getting to race K2 alongside two-time national champion Jake Koekemoer at the 2015 Blue Lake 2 regatta it opened the gateway to a future as sprint kayaker.
In 2016 he made his international debut at the Oceania Championships in Adelaide placing second in the U18 K2 1000m alongside Thomas Cole.
Later that year he made his debut at the Junior World Championships in Minsk, where he was eliminated from the semi-finals of the K4 1000m.
In 2017 he earned one of the highlights of his career so far by placing ninth in the A final of the K4 500m at the U23 World Championships in Romania.
An established member of the New Zealand men’s kayak squad in 2019 he placed fourth in the open men’s K1 200m final at the New Zealand.
Later that year he placed eighth in the B Final as part of the men’s K4 500m team at the World Cup in Poznan before finishing seventh in the B final of the K4 500m at the U23 World Championships.
Earlier this year Ben enjoyed a good all-round performance at the New Zealand Canoe Sprint Championships earning a K1 1000m silver medal and K1 200m bronze in the open men’s events.
