Wiremu Whareaitu

Bill Whareaitu a competitive swimmer selected for the London 1934 British Empire Games.

Whareaitu was the national 150 yards backstroke champion in 1934 and travelled to the Empire Games in London that year as part of the three-strong New Zealand swimming team. At those games he finished fourth in his heat of the 100 yards backstroke and did not progress. He reached the final of the 3 x 110 yards medley relay with teammates Noel Crump and Len Smith, finishing fifth. 

Of Te Arawa and Tuhourangi descent, Whareaitu served with the 28th (Maori) Battalion during World War II and competed in the battalion's team at the New Zealand Division swimming championships at Maadi, Egypt in September 1943. In May 1945 he was commissioned as a second lieutenant.