Ben Mason
Ben started rowing back in 2015 with Wakatipu Rowing Club and Whakitipu High School. He then moved to Dunedin and continued rowing for Otago Boys High School at the end of 2017. Ben was a strong sculler, narrowly missing out on podiums in the single and double fields.
In 2018, Ben was selected to row in the South Island Team where he joined forces with another strong sculler from Marlborough Boys College - Kobe Miller, in the U18 South Island Double with the duo going undefeated. The team went on to defeat the North Island winning the North vs South Cup.
In his last year of high school, Ben has a standout season in 2019, winning the Men's Club Double at the National Champs, and then going on to win Gold in the Boy's U18 Double and Silver in the Boy's U18 Coxed Quad at the 2019 Aon Maadi Regatta. After impressing selectors, Ben was named in the bow seat of the NZ Junior Men's Quad that competed at the 2019 Junior World Rowing Championships in Tokyo, Japan. The crew (William Thompson, Seth Hope, Jason Nel and Ben Mason) raced in a very tough field, claiming 6th overall in Ben's debut representing NZ.
Ben had earned a spot in the 2019/20 Southern RPC Squad, where he claimed Gold in the Men's U20 Double Scull, Silver in the Men's U20 Single and the Men's U22 Coxless Quad at the 2020 NZ National Rowing Championships. Unfortunately, due to Covid there was no international travel for rowing that Ben could part take in. After another season with Southern RPC in 2020/21, Ben decided not to compete at the 2021 NZ National Championships.
Ben started training in the Swift Coastal Rowing boat in preparation for his big goal of rowing 1000km up the Bay of Islands coast, raising funds and awareness for Breast Cancer. Ben lost his Mum to Breast Cancer in 2007, so this huge task was something that had a lot of meaning for him and his family. After a whole month of some gruelling conditions and large quantities of rowing out on the open water, Ben finished back in Auckland and raised over $32,000 for the Cancer Society.
Ben came back to have his most standout years in 2022 with Avon Rowing Club. At the 2022 NZ National Rowing Championships, Ben won Gold in the Men's Premier Single (James R Hill Trophy) earning himself his first Red Coat. That was more of just a medal for Ben though, his great uncle Jim Hill won this even 6-consecutive years in a row from 1958-1963, coming away with winning this trophy was a huge achievement for himself and his family. This was Ben's most successful Nationals, as not only did he win the Men's Premier Single, but he also won Gold in the Men's Premier Double, Men's U22 Double, Men's Premier Coxless Four (Boss Rooster) and the 500m Exhibition Mixed Eights race.
These outstanding achievements and performances earned him a spot in the NZ U23 Men's Quad. Ben stroked the boat with Jonte Wright, Ben Olifiers and Jack Ready sitting behind, with the crew claiming Bronze at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Varese, Italy.
Ben then spent some time overseas, moving into something he is more familiar with now - Coastal Rowing. He was part of the small group of NZ Elite Rowing athletes that competed at the 2022 World Rowing Coastal Championships and Beach Sprint Finals. Ben came away claiming Bronze in the CM2x with Brook Robertson, then unfortunately - a DNF due to boat troubles with Emma Twigg in the CMi2x after being top qualifiers in the heats.
After some impressive performances in 2022, Ben was selected in the Elite Development Squad at Rowing NZ. He started the season off strong, competing at the 2022 Karapiro Christmas Regatta with placing 2nd in the Men's Premier Single - just 3.7sec behind Robbie Manson. Ben also won the Men's Premier Double with Jack Ready at this regatta. Ben was unable to compete to his best capabilities for the rest of the season due to sickness in 2023.
Ben has been selected in the 2023 Elite Men's Sculling Squad, coached by Gary Roberts. He also has been selected as the 2023 NZ U23 Single Sculler to compete at the U23 World Rowing Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Ben teamed up with childhood hero Robbie Manson in the Elite Men's Double at the 2023 World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland - claiming 6th in the A-Final for the newly formed crew. An outstanding result with a lot of potential for the duo pushing forward to the World Championships. Due to the Elite Rowing commitment, Ben unfortunately had to pull out of racing the Single at the 2023 U23 World Rowing Championships.
Off the water, Ben was studying a Bachelor of Commerce through the University of Otago 2020-2022, and now is continuing through Massey University. He does some work for Coastal Rowing in NZ, with helping it develop towards the 2026 Commonwealth Games. He enjoys playing golf, cooking and Fortnite. Ben also has a pet cat - Ellie.