Swimming in groups or pods (like a pod of whales) is a key part of swimming at the South End Rowing Club: for camaraderie and for safety.
The pods are completely unofficial. The organization of these pods is very ad-hoc and word-of-mouth. Pods often have group chats (text threads, WhatsApp).
Looking to join a pod? We’ve collected information from just a few of the unofficial pods here at SERC. If there’s no contact listed, show up and ask around for the pod at the times noted.
Want to get your pod added to this page? Email [email protected]
Jump to a pod:
- Buckaroo Sunrisers (Buck’s Sunrisers)
- Swiss Pod
- B-Pod (6:30-ish Pod)
- North Bay Pod
- SERC It’s What We Do
- 7am
- Irish Pod
- Dick and Patrick’s Pod
- Pod 5
- Cathy H and Baerbel
- Merpod
- Long Time Friends Pod
Buckaroo Sunrisers (Buck’s Sunrisers)
When: Almost Every Weekday. On the beach and in the water at 6am (with blinkie lights in the dark months).
Experience/Speed: Experienced. Medium Speed (~30 min Cove) Numbers range between 3-12 swimmers.
Members include: Norbert, Ken, Ellie, Victoria, Kevin, Jay, Jeff, Denny, Mark, Alex, John, Jesse(s), Caesar, Peter, Noah, Ryan and many other special guests.
Swiss Pod
When: Mon-Fri TITW (toes in the water) at 6:16am, Sat/Sun/Holidays at 7:30am
Experience/Speed: Mostly Speedy, adventurous, experienced
About: Planned swims, safe and we watch out for each other. We also enjoy folks who join in with us
Members include: Rick, Didrik, Kristen, Josh, Todd, & others
B-Pod (6:30-ish Pod)
When: TITW (toes in the water) Mon-Fri around 6:30am and Saturdays, Sundays, Special Occasions, and Holidays around 7:30am
Experience/speed: range from Speedy to Moderate speed.
About: Meet in the day room before and move in mass to get ready. This group is also chronicled greatly with photos, loves a good birthday swim, will celebrate almost anything, invented beer Friday, and are really fun
North Bay Pod
When: Thursday morning at 6:30am and Sunday at 7:30am.
Experience/Speed: Very fast
About: Swims are usually in for an hour or so (although not so much lately with the low temperatures)
Members include: Justin, Steven, and other North Bay Masters Swimmers.
SERC It’s What We Do
When: Wed-Fri Exact TITW (toes in the water) at 6:30 am, and Sundays and Saturdays at 7:15ish am.
Experience/speed: We have all paces medium medium fast to moderately fast,
About: We keep and eye on each other, have meet up points, and adjust our swims to the conditions that present themselves. Matthew, Peter and Mark have been swimming with the club for more than 20 years.
Members include: Lauren (Reeny) Brit, Brian Williamson, Marc Welty, Peter Ross, Matthew Davis, Pat Loughran, Tanya, and Molly
Contact: Brian [email protected]
7am
When: We meet in the day room at 7am most days and go from there. Some sniveling is allowed.
About: We generally swim about an hour.
Experience/speed: We are medium speed, a variety of ages and any gender is fine with us. We are a very inclusive swim pod always looking for fun people to join us to discover new adventures in the water.
Contact: Laura [email protected]
Irish Pod
When: Meet in the day room Tuesday and Thursday evening at 5pm, and 4:30pm during after day light savings (Nov-March). We also meet Sundays at 8am.
Experience/speed: This is a large diverse group
About: swims 45- 1 hr, longer on Sundays when the water is warmer and upwards of 1.5 hrs. This is also a fun group known for their after swim libations and lively socializing.
Members include: A hearty group of swimmers and some of the original Irish Pod include Bobby (Patrick O’Malley Daly), Gary, Barry and many others. This is a large diverse group.
Dick and Patrick’s Pod
When: Mon, Wed and Friday locker room at +-0600 am and swim shortly after.
Experience/speed: Slow experienced
About: Mostly in cove esp when cold
Contact: Dick [email protected]
Pod 5
When: Tuesday and Thursday at 7am. Also Sunday around 8 or 9am
Experience/speed: Slow but experienced, and quite chatty:)
Contact: Alix
Cathy H and Baerbel
When: 6:30pm on weekdays and TBA other days and times
Experience/speed: Experienced slow leisurely swimmers
About: Will stop to birdwatch and take in the sights
Contact: Cathy H
Merpod
When: Swim in the afternoons as work schedules allow on the weekdays. On the weekends we do a late morning or afternoon swim. We keep up with swim schedules via text, anyone interested, see contact information below.
Experience/speed: We are not ‘fast’ or ‘slow’- we are just right for our group’s needs of the day
About: We swim for the love of it! You will see us leisurely swimming on our backs or playfully doing flips, because that’s what Merfolk do!! Jody W has been known to give mermaid pants to our members 😉 All Merfolk welcome of all genders!
Members include: Jody, Dana, Katrina, Linda and a few others that join us at times
Contact: Jody (415) 422-0411
Long Time Friends Pod
When: Days and times TBA
Experience/speed: I can’t imagine anyone going as slow as we do! LOL. Start out slow and taper off
About: We meet and do our own thing, whatever our bodies allow, and then share food and visit. In the winter I water walk to keep my heart and lungs out of the temps below 60 and each of us has a different route, etc. We make sure we are all back to the beach safe and attend to any hypothermia in the sauna. Also it is important for me to get Ms. Marty down to the club to lunch with us – important that she has this continued connection as a long time member of the club.
Contact: Karyn Noel (510) 612-3921