He won gold with Lauren Rowles in the trunk-arms mixed double sculls (TAMix2x) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.

[3] In 2006 at the age of 14 he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (a form of bone cancer) below his right knee,[4] and was given only a 30% chance of survival by doctors.

[3][5] After his recovery Whiteley initially competed as a swimmer, and was national junior champion at 50 m freestyle in the S10 classification.

[7] After searching for over two years for a suitable partner to compete with in Paralympic double sculls,[8] Whiteley teamed up with Lauren Rowles, a former wheelchair racer who had recently switched to rowing, in early 2015.

[9] At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, they set a world record in the heats[10] and went on to win gold in the final.