Community

Post with Purpose, Share with Care

As the main🐬 group has grown (nearly 900+), etiquette considerations exist when posting in this forum. These social media guidelines apply not only to PodSquad but to social media groups in general (especially large ones such as ours), while still supporting the spirit of connection and community. These guidelines have been created by gleaning what is appropriate for consideration to all individuals.

• Understand the Purpose of our Group: Ensure your WhatsApp Chat messages align with the group’s purpose. Ocean swimming and related swimming communications. For example, avoid personal conversations or unrelated topics.
• Reply privately where appropriate: Know how to reply privately on WhatsApp. Too much posting can have people disengage which is the antithesis of why the group exists, whilst too little has the same effect.
• Keep messages relevant: Post only when your message adds value to the swimming group or is necessary.
• Sharks and Stingers: Please do not post about 🦈 or 🪼in the PodSquad chat groups. We are about encouraging ocean swimmers and as these are emotionally charged topics we strongly discourage online discussion. This includes posting photos of your latest run in with a stinger. Take this chat offline or DM your best buddies about your encounters.
• Encouragement: Does your considered post encourage other swimmers?
• Is this relevant to the majority of the group? Is a public reply to a post (to 750+ 🐬) necessary. Avoid sharing repetitive information or replying with messages like “Thanks” “Noted” “Yes” or “Great”. An emoji tagged on a message says it all.
• Consolidate your messages: Instead of sending multiple short messages, combine them into one thoughtful post. In the larger groups, avoid getting into personal a conversation – take it offline.
• Limit frequency: Only post multiple times a day if it’s urgent.
• Use Emojis: Attach an emoji to a message instead of replying to a post with a message. It says it all (you have over 3700 emojis to choose from 😲). A little less conversation a little more emojis (for our larger groups).
• Conversations: Chats between a small group of crew do not need to be shared with the whole community. Reply privately (DM).
• Avoid photo dumping: One considered image is enough. Have six images of the same scene – choose one, edit and post. Tommy Dobrzanski is our role model here. Send other photos to our Facebook group instead or to your mum.
• Avoid Forwarding Unverified Content: Refrain from sharing unverified information, especially news, chain messages, or jokes that could lead to misinformation or offence.
• Respect Privacy: Avoid tagging or addressing specific individuals in the group for personal matters; use private messages instead.
• Minimise Media Sharing: Only share relevant and considered images, videos, or documents when necessary. Large files can overwhelm group members and fill phones’ storage. Please don’t photo dump. If you choose a photo for the group consider its merit, relevance and purpose (porpoise 🐬).
• Be Mindful of Timing: Consider the time of day before posting. Not everyone will have their phone silenced. Avoid late-night or early-morning messages unless urgent. A general guideline for a swimming community is posting between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
• Follow Admin Instructions: Respect the group admin’s rules, including topics to avoid or posting limits. We are an apolitical group.
• Reflect Before You Post: We encourage relevant posts that are relevant to the majority of the group. Before sending a message, ask yourself: Is this necessary? Will it benefit the (large) group?, Could this be shared directly with a specific person/s instead? Would an emoji reply attached to a message suffice.
• PodSquad Cap Holiday Snaps: These are encouraged (with your PodSquad swim cap). One considered photo with your PodSquad cap in an exotic location – awesome. Reply with an attached emoji ❤️. Photos of you on holiday with your aunty Jean (water or no water) – not relevant 👎.
• Other Alternatives: Consider using the Facebook group, direct message (DM), phone call, email, personal conversation.

Dive In, You’re Among Friends

Making any new swimmers feel comfortable and welcome is key to our PodSquad’s ethos. Beyond the basics of introducing yourself and explaining the swim, here are a few extra ways to make a big difference:

• Be the First to Say Hello: Don’t wait for them to approach you. If you spot someone new, go over, introduce yourself, and offer a friendly smile.
• Offer to Pair Up: Suggest swimming alongside them for their first few sessions, especially if they’re unsure of the swim or pace.
• Share Local Knowledge: Beyond just the swim details, mention things like change rooms, the best spot for post-swim coffee, or even local marine life they might encounter. 
• Introduce Them to Others: Don’t just introduce yourself; bring them into the broader group. This helps them connect with more people quickly.
• Check In During and After: A quick check-in mid-swim (“All good? Need anything?”) or after the swim (“How was that for you? Any questions?”) shows you genuinely care about their experience.
• Be Patient and Understanding: Everyone’s first time is different. Some might be fast, others nervous. Be patient with questions and understanding if they’re a bit hesitant.
• PodSquad is a diverse group (that’s what we love): …and that’s one of our strengths! Let’s keep our focus on swimming, fitness, and friendship. It’s crucial to maintain a neutral and respectful atmosphere.

By doing these little things, we not only make new swimmers feel welcome but also strengthen the supportive and friendly atmosphere that makes our PodSquad so awesome.

Awareness + Respect = A Smooth Swim

Always be mindful of the broader ocean community, encompassing both those within and outside our group. Many individuals swim, paddle, row, or snorkel in the same area, and a large group of boisterous, white-capped swimmers can be intimidating when approaching.

• Be Aware and Watch: Frequently sight for incoming swimmers, particularly in the busy summer season—consider it a training boost!
• Alert Your PodSquad: If a collision seems possible, warn your fellow Pod Squad members about incoming swimmers.

• Search: Look for clear water. Avoid bumping into fellow swimmers 🤕 — no matter how much you like them ❤️ — and ease into open space

•  Sight: hold your line (South: Fremantle cranes 🏗️, end of Cottesloe Groyne 🪨, North: Observation City 🏨, Large North St Pine Tree 🌲, white buoy) and to avoid incoming swimmers.

•  Stop: on the markers, line the white pole with the flag (especially for our leaders 🦸‍♀️, when they get it right, so do the rest of us ✅)

• Be Proactive: Always give way to others.

• Don’t Assume: Never assume others have seen you; make it your responsibility to be aware.
• If You Collide: In the event of a collision (it happens!), kindly, thoughtfully, and respectfully check that the other swimmer is okay.
• White Poles (and flags): Be aware of every marker (every 100m). Line up precisely by aligning the white pole with the orange flag.
• Heavy Swell: Swim further west to avoid breaking waves. Whilst waiting at the marker, float on your back and kick into the swell to hold your position.
• Within the Net (Summer): Be especially mindful of other swimmers and avoid backstroke in this zone.
• Stopping Mid-Swim: If you need to stop for any reason, look behind you to ensure you’re not blocking the path of another swimmer.
• Starting a Set: When commencing a swim set, do not use a breaststroke kick; ease into your stroke.
• Outside the Net: On summer weekends and busy weekdays, we swim outside the net.
• Bunch Up and Listen: So you are aware what sets are being called, bunch up after each interval, hold the chat and listen for the set call.
• Sighting: Regularly sighting helps you maintain your line in the water. Avoid drifting into other swimmers. Use structures like the Fremantle Port cranes or the pole on the Cottesloe Groyne (heading South), or the North Street pine trees whilst heading North.
• Look for clear water: When the group is larger, swimmers also need to develop an awareness of their position in the water in relation to other swimmers (left, right, front, or behind). Always look to swim towards clear (open) water. 
• Timing Your Swim: The goal is that no-one is waiting too long at the end of each interval set.  Waiting too long means either getting cold or having too much recovery time so you lose your sense of a workout.
• Getting Out Early: If you get out of the water early, please let someone know, preferably your buddy.

From Ocean to Coffee — Courtesy Counts

Just like in the water, it’s essential to be considerate on land, both to your fellow PodSquad members and the wider public. Your actions, reactions, behaviour, and language all matter.

• Yield to Others: Always be aware and give way to walkers and runners.
• Mind the Coffee Rush: Those post-swim coffee gatherings can get busy! Make sure you leave a clear path for pedestrians, other coffee patrons, and cyclists.
• Bag Awareness: Be mindful of where you stash your swim bags while you’re enjoying your coffee. They can become a trip hazard for others.
• Share the Space: We share our meeting spot with many members of the North Cottesloe Surf Club, and we have a fantastic relationship with them. We’re counting on you to help maintain that positive connection. Have you considered joining?

No Shivers at Pages Pen — Be On Time, Swim in Sync

We’re a PodSquad for a reason—we swim together! However, as we assemble after our warm-up, no one wants to shiver at Pages Pen (that first 400m mark) while waiting, especially when the water’s cool. Being considerate means we all reach the holding pen around the same time, and that hinges on everyone being mindful of their swim speed and punctuality.

• Know the Start Time: Always be aware of when we’re scheduled to begin.
• Departing Pages Pen: We usually depart from Pages Pen (400m mark) ten minutes after the official start time (weekdays 6:25am, weekends 7:10am). Time your arrival appropriately.
• Slower Swimmers: Please hop in a minute or two early. Don’t linger at the back of the group on land.
• Faster Swimmers: Enter the water a minute or two late, allowing you to swim through the group.
• Boost Your Comfort/Speed: If you’re a slower swimmer, consider wearing fins or a wetsuit until your fitness and speed pick up.
• Running Late? If you’re delayed, jog 100m south down the beach and enter the water there. That way, the leading group won’t have to wait for you at the holding pen.
• Interval Swim Tip: When we start our intervals, the slower swimmers should begin at the front. That way, faster swimmers can easily go around. Even if you’re tired and hanging at the back, keep swimming through the group until you reach the front—then take your rest. Hanging back might seem helpful, but you’ll end up falling further behind. Keep moving, and it all flows better!

PodSquad — Where the Ocean Meets Us

There’s something that happens when people gather at the edge of the ocean every morning. Not because they have to. Not because someone’s measuring their performance or tracking their progress. Just because showing up matters. Because the water is there. Because the others will be there too.

PodSquad isn’t a fitness group pretending to be a community, or a social club that happens to swim. It’s what emerges when you stop forcing connection and just let it breathe. Every morning, people arrive—some chatting, some quiet, some still shaking off sleep. There’s no roll call, no pressure, no obligation. You show up when you show up. You swim how you swim. And somehow, that spaciousness creates something solid.

The structure is light but real. Swim between the white poles. High-five your friends in the water and call out “Happy Monday” or “Happy Tuesday”—whatever day it happens to be. Small rituals mark belonging: a circle of welcome kicks for newcomers, a cap presentation on the third swim, birthday muffins and singing over coffee. Nothing heavy. Just enough to say: you belong here, we see you, this matters.

The ocean changes with the seasons—wild and cold one day, warm and clear the next. Someone measures the temperature each morning and writes it on the wall outside the coffee shop. But whatever the water brings, the rhythm stays constant. And after, over tea and coffee, conversations unfold. The kind of talk that happens when people aren’t performing, just present. Someone shares something real. Someone else listens. No fixing, no forcing, just flow.

There’s a quality to it that’s hard to name but easy to feel. It’s not about swimming faster or longer. It’s not about being the fittest or the most dedicated. It’s about showing up to something bigger than yourself and finding that the something bigger is actually just… everyone else showing up too. The ocean holds you. The group holds you. And in that holding, there’s freedom to just be.

PodSquad works because it doesn’t try too hard. There’s structure—meet here, swim there, celebrate this way—but it’s structure that serves connection, not control. There’s commitment, but it’s the kind that comes from wanting to, not having to. There’s community, but it’s built on presence, not performance. People come because it feels true. Because something about being in the ocean with other humans every single day, then warming up (or cooling down, depending on the season) over coffee and conversation, cuts through the noise of everything else and lands you right where you are.

It’s humanity at its simplest and best. Ocean. Movement. Connection. Laughter. Ritual light enough to hold, strong enough to matter. The kind of thing that makes you wonder why we make everything else so complicated when it can be this straightforward: show up, swim, connect, repeat. And somehow, in that repetition, something rare gets built—not forced, not manufactured, just allowed to emerge. A pod. A squad. A place where the ocean meets us, and we meet each other, and that’s enough.

An Ode To The Pod Squad May 2025, 

 

Last winter I joined the Pod Squad, invited by Liz

Not sure I belonged but I gave it a whiz

The welcome was warm and the ocean was bold

And right from the start the magic took hold

 

A few friends once had a wild idea

To get a group swimming when COVID was here

Two of them we know as Andy and Shane

Then along came Leigh, a marketing gain

 

We meet by the benches as the sky starts to glow

Outside North Cott Surf Club where the regulars go

Tommy and Rosie are two of the four-legged crew

As hugs and hellos sweep warmly right through

 

Every day of the year this odd bunch swims

Donning white caps with goggles, all flapping their limbs

From North Cott they swim south for a K and back

The leaders of the pod keeping things on track

 

Swim once and get a welcome in the ocean

Three swims and the pod cap is gifted amid much commotion

Leigh’s voice bellows to get in line and make some noise

Uniting ocean legends with fun and poise

 

As Andy counts down in his get a wriggle on style

We head down the ramp, everyone with a smile

We warm up all the way down to Pages Pen

Then Shane calls the drills and off we go again

 

When we get to the groyne at Cott we regroup

Ready to have some more fun with the troop

More drills are called from Bailey’s 100 hard to the SheryZen

All the way to Russ with the red buoy and then

Moments of magic like Nelson’s celebration of the sand

A duck dive down to grab some sand in your hand

We all burst to the surface and fling it in the air

Our worries released with a whoop and a prayer

 

The first timers get inaugurated as we circle up and kick our feet

With excitement in the air and rhythm in our beat

We high five 10 people to celebrate the swim

With a Happy Whatever Day our ritual daily hymn

 

We rinse off the salt and share stories at Li’l Sup

Coffee in hand as the banter winds up

Birthdays bring muffins with candles to blow

Much love and laughter with a warm caffeine glow

 

On the shortest day we gather in wild celebration

The winter solstice swim stirs up lots of anticipation

With bagpipes we’re led down to the water below

Then the Crooners bring tunes to the cafe in tow

 

In summer the long swims begin to appear

With Rotto bound legends and soloists near

The water gets warmer the sun starts to rise

And the pod keeps on swimming no hint of surprise

 

So here’s to the leaders of this fabulous pack

With heart and with humour you’ve got our back

Thanks for the banter the joy and the fun

Bound by the ocean the moon and the sun

Created by Amanda Ewin with help from some fab Podders