At a Civic Reception held in his honour on Friday, Josh Waters was celebrated not only for his extraordinary achievements on the track, but for the way he has carried Mildura with him through a career that began before most children learn to ride a bicycle.
Waters first climbed onto a race bike at just five years old.
By six, he had already claimed his first national title.
Josh has taken out the Australian Superbike Championship five times: in 2009, 2012, 2017, 2024 and, most recently, 2025.
“I’ve been able to achieve what I have achieved, but I have done it all from Mildura,” he said. “I train here and I live here because that is where I want to live. I love the people, I love the area … it’s just that on some weekends I live a different life.”
That grounded nature is part of what makes Waters so admired locally.
“At the end of the day, I just like being a normal Sunraysia person. When I go pick up my kids from school, I might hear, ‘Hey, aren’t you that motorbike rider?’ I just say, ‘Yeah, that’s me — but I’m also Izzy and Lenny’s dad.”
Image: MRCC
