About

The Wharenui Amateur Swim Club was founded on the 1st of December 1911 in connection with the Wharenui Coronation Bath which was constructed as a memorial to the coronation of King George V.

“A meeting was held in the Wharenui School last evening for the purpose of forming a swimming club in connection with the Wharenui Coronation Bath.  Mr F. Coombs was in the chair, and Mr H. Milne was elected secretary pro term.  It was decided to form a club to be called the Wharenui Amateur Swimming Club, and the following committee was set up to draft rules: – Messer’s F. McCullough, F. Ward, C. D. Von Dibra, G. Cullen, F. Coombs, H. Hancock, and the secretary.  The fees were fixed at 5s per annum for adults and 2s 6d for youths under 18.”  – Press, 2/12/1911

The bath which was opened on the 18th of December 1911 was 75ft by 30ft, was 7ft 8in at its deepest.  Mr. Witty who was the MP had the honour of opening the pool and was quoted at the time saying:

“It should be compulsory for every child to learn swimming, so as to be able to render help to others in a emergency.” 

At the time of the opening the Wharenui Swim Club had 60 members.

The club folded several times for events such as the war but was subsequently reinstated.  The club was re-established in its current form in 1944 and produced its first provincial swimming champion two years later in the form of Roger Gibbs who would go on to represent New Zealand in the 1950 British Empire Games. 

The club folded several times for events such as the war but was subsequently reinstated.  The club was re-established in its current form in 1944

Two years following its re-establishment, the club produced its first provincial swimming champion in the form of Roger Gibbs who would go on to represent New Zealand in the 110 yards backstroke in the 1950 British Empire Games. 

In 1961 the new open-air pool was opened by the Mayor of Riccarton Mr. E J Bradshaw and was covered seven years later 1968.

The club appointed well-known coach Pic Parkhouse from Cambridge as head coach which kick-started Wharenui’s golden era over the coming decade. 

In 1970 both Susan Hunter and Mark Treffers alongside coach Pic Parkhouse were selected for the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh where Mark would claim the bronze medal in the 1500 freestyle.

Two years later Hunter, Treffers and Jaynie Parkhouse represented New Zealand at the 1972 Munich Olympics. 

In 1976 Lynne Rowe would join Hunter and Treffers representing New Zealand at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Rowe would qualify for the semi-finals in the 100 butterfly eventually finishing in 14th in a time of 1:04.06.

At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton the club was represented by Melanie Jones and Paul Rowe in swimming while a large number of Wharenui Water Polo players were also selected including John Koens, John Gallagher, Chris Lewis, Derek Ferigo, Damian Ferigo, Stephen Ward and Steven Wakefield.

The decade closed on another positive note for Wharenui when a club trip to California resulted in five New Zealand Records from the team consisting of Rickie Binning, Paul Rowe, Michael Smith, Melanie Jones, Kim Dewer, Grant Gillard, Gavin Dixon and Tracey Turnbull.

Undoubtedly Wharenui’s greatest achievement came right on our own doorstep when the 10th Commonwealth Games were held in Christchurch during January and February of 1974. The games were centered at the purpose built QEII Park and were considered a success for New Zealand collecting 35 medals in total including 9 golds. The 16 strong swimming team featured 5 swimmers from Wharenui; Susan Hunter, Brent Lewis, John Coutts, Jaynie Parkhouse and Mark Treffers.

While perhaps the 1974 Commonwealth Games are best remembered for the epic 1500m race between Tanzania’s Filbert Bayi and New Zealand’s John Walker in which Bayi won in record time which still stands today, the 26th of January would leave its own mark on New Zealand swimming history. The day began with Mark Treffers winning the 400m individual medley in a time of 4:35.90, over 5 seconds faster than his nearest competitor. Later on Jaynie Parkhouse matched this effort by winning gold in the 800m freestyle ahead of an all-star Australian line-up predicated to go 1-2-3 in a time of 4:23.09. To cap the day off Susan Hunter won bronze with a time of 5:07.20 in the 400m individual medley. 

However, the medals did not stop here for the Wharenui swimmers, Treffers would go on to win silver in the 1500m freestyle (15:59.82) and Parkhouse a bronze in the 400m freestyle (4:23.09). Hunter would do the double, winning another bronze this time in the 200m individual medley in a time of 2:26.18.

The only other swimming medal for New Zealand in the games went to John Coutts who won silver in the 200m butterfly.

1980 began with the devastation of the New Zealand boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics that saw Whareniu swimmers Melanie Jones and Paul Rowe miss out on the opportunity to swim at the Olympics.

However, Jones would bounce back claiming a Bronze medal in the 4×100 Freestyle at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games alongside Wharenui team-mate Kim Dewar. Grant Forbes also represented the club at the Brisbane Games. 

The club continued to see success into the 1990s with Fiona and Michael Ross, Linda Robinson, Phillipa Langrell, Nichola West and coach Rainer Goltzsche all selected for the 1990 Commonwealth Games held in Auckland with both Phillippa and Linda claiming Bronze in the 4×200 Freestyle Relay. 

In 1991 the Recreation Centre was completed by the Riccarton Borough Council costing over $1 million and three years later the pool was upgraded and shortened to its current 25m length with the new baby pool constructed. 

1991 also saw the appointment of Gordon Dinnison as head coach while in 1992 club icon Doug Cain stood down as president after 35 years leading the club.

In 1994 Blair McMillan, Gordon Dinnison’s assistant was named head coach of the club when Gordon returned to Wellington. A year later Lydia Lipscombe swum at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atalanta where she finished 11th in the 100m Backstroke. 

Lydia represented New Zealand again at the 1998 Kuala Lumper Commonwealth Games before retiring while Blair also left the club as he headed to Japan with Todd Mason appointed as head coach in 1999. 

In 2004 Annabelle Carey represented New Zealand at the Athens Olympics in the 100m Breaststroke and 4×100m Medley Relay. 

2005 saw the arrival of Martin Harris from England to lead the programme. 

The Christchurch Earthquakes had a big impact on both swimming at Wharenui and in the wider region as the only 50m pool in Christchurch (QEII Pool) was demolished. Numerous other pools in the region were closed temporarily or permanently after the earthquakes with pool space a premium. At Wharenui the pool was closed for 3 weeks while the stadium was shut for a number of years before reopening in 2016 after repairs had been concluded. 

Matthew Hutchins represented New Zealand at the 2016 Rio Olympics with his 19th place finish in the 400m Freestyle a highlight. 

2019 saw Wharenui win the coverted Hollander Cup (15x50m) for the tenth year in a row. 

The start of the new decade saw former swimmer Carl Gordon return to the Club as its new Director of Coaching. 

In 2024, Taiko Torepe-Ormsby represented New Zealand at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the 50m Freestyle after qualfing at the 2024 New Zealand Champs where he broke the open New Zealand record and became the first New Zealander under 22 seconds. 

Lili-Fox Mason became the first Paralympian from the club as she competed in the 100m Butterfly and 400m Freestyle at the 2024 Paris Parylmpics.