Waterlings

Waterlings Waterlings is here to reconnect you to your inner joy, in the water.
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13/08/2026

Most brands test new products in a fitting room.

I get to test mine in a pool full of babies. 💦

That's the quiet advantage of being a swim teacher first and a founder second. Before anything new earns the Waterlings name, it spends time in real lessons at my swim school. Real kicking, real splashing, real chlorine. And the toughest review panel in the country: little Waterlings who will absolutely let you know if something bothers them.

The smiles in this reel are the verdict.

I'm not saying much more just yet. But if you've had a feeling we've been up to something, you're right. 🩵

There's a lot of quiet heroism on a pool deck.I've watched it for twenty-five years. The parent who gets a wriggly toddl...
12/08/2026

There's a lot of quiet heroism on a pool deck.

I've watched it for twenty-five years. The parent who gets a wriggly toddler fed, changed and poolside by 8am. The one who still comes in the middle of winter, when the car park is cold and the doona nearly won. The one in the water, week after week, holding their bub through every wobble.

Teachers teach the lessons. But consistency is what turns lessons into a swimmer. And the consistency is all yours.

Because here's the thing about babies and trust. In the water, they borrow their calm from you. Your arms, your voice, your face showing up again and again in the same warm place. That's what they're learning from, long before they're learning strokes.

So this one's for you. We see you every week. It doesn't go unnoticed. ✨

11/08/2026

Every swim family has a system for the wet stuff.

The plastic bag that lives in the swim bag. The cossies wrung out on the pool deck and rolled up in a towel. The soggy pile in the boot, found again days later. Usually by smell.

That's exactly why we made the wet bag. What I didn't expect was how far past the pool it would travel.

"We use our wet bag every day. Not only for swimming. When we go to the beach, when we're going out, we use it for drink bottles. It's leak-proof, so the rest of your bag stays dry."

Swim caps, swimmers, the nappy, all straight in after a lesson, straight into the wash at home. The car stays clean. And on the days in between, it's apparently a drink bottle bodyguard.

A swim product that earned a spot in the everyday bag. I'll take that.

What's the most unexpected job your wet bag does in your house?

Nobody ever taught us these things.There was no lesson for exploring a rock pool. No one showed us how to fill a bucket ...
10/08/2026

Nobody ever taught us these things.

There was no lesson for exploring a rock pool. No one showed us how to fill a bucket with shells until it was too heavy to carry. And the rules of beach cricket were passed down the sand like folklore. Six and out. One hand, one bounce. Argued over every summer, never once written down.

That's the thing about an Aussie childhood. The essentials were never bought, and never taught. They were absorbed, one golden arvo at a time ✨

Now we get to stand in the shallows and watch our own little ones pick them all up. Same rock pools. Same shells. Same arguments at the crease.

We've started the list. What did we miss? 🦀

I wrote this checklist long before Waterlings existed.Not on paper. On the pool deck, over twenty-five years of watching...
07/08/2026

I wrote this checklist long before Waterlings existed.

Not on paper. On the pool deck, over twenty-five years of watching swim nappies come through my swim school. The ones that held. The ones that didn't. The ones that looked so plastic, parents hid them under their baby's swimwear.

I banned disposables from my pool back in 2008 because they kept failing at the one job they had. And somewhere in that decision, this list started writing itself.

A lining that seals the whole inside, not just elastic at the legs. Leg bands with enough give for chunky thighs and skinny ones. Prints you'd happily photograph. Fabric made from plastic that was on its way to becoming ocean.

It took me sixteen years to make the nappy that ticks every box. The standard was never negotiable. The pool deck taught me that.

Beautiful and functional. It was never going to be one or the other. 🐠✨

06/08/2026

Parents often ask me when their baby will start "actually swimming."

I understand the question. We picture arms and kicks and laps. But after twenty-five years of teaching, I can tell you where swimming really begins.

On the back.

Watch a baby learning to float. The little legs soften. The shoulders let go. The body stops holding itself and lets the water do the holding. Calm, aware, comfortable. Every stroke they ever learn gets built on top of that feeling.

There's no rushing it, and no need to. Week after week, with soft hands behind their head and a familiar face above them, babies find it in their own time.

And watching these little Waterlings find it never gets old.

Slow gets us there faster.

Is your bub a back float fan, or still warming up to the idea? Both are completely normal. 🩵

This rock pool is a few hours south of Sydney, near Mollymook. I took my camera on this trip, and I'm so glad I did.Once...
05/08/2026

This rock pool is a few hours south of Sydney, near Mollymook. I took my camera on this trip, and I'm so glad I did.

Once a year, I try to get away on my own down the East coast. I'm not a spontaneous person, so these drives are properly planned: a beautiful destination to look forward to, a business audiobook queued up, the notebook packed. That's my version of a holiday, and I love it.

Here's something that surprises people. I was a competitive swimmer, but I'm not a strong surf swimmer. Something about the surf intimidates me. My happy place is a rock pool or an ocean pool, doing my laps with the ocean right there beside me, but not underneath me. And down south, there are so many beautiful ones.

My work is intense. A swim school with a team of 40, and now a completely new arena of fashion and e-commerce. The coastline is where I find the space to think. I need it badly, and it gives it to me every single time.

This trip gave me something else too. These rock pools are what inspired our Rock The Pool nappy. This rock pool world really is my happiest place.

Where do you go when you need space?

– Sasha, Waterlings 🩵

04/08/2026

There's a list in every swim mum's head on lesson day.

Towel. Spare clothes. Snack for the walk back to the car. The bag packed the night before, or thrown together in the four minutes before you're out the door. Every item on that list lives in one head, and it's usually hers.

So when Danielle shared this with us after her lesson, I got that little spark of joy.

"It's like one last thing I don't have to worry about. I just throw them in the bag and I know they're gonna look good, they're gonna keep all the leaks in for me. It's just done for me."

She named both halves of the brief without knowing it. Beautiful enough that you're happy to pull it out of the bag every single week. And working hard underneath, so the only thing on your mind at the pool is the swim.

The rest of swim day is still yours to juggle. This bit is done for you.

Thank you, Danielle. You made my week. 🩵

Nobody signs up for swim lessons to make memories.You sign up so your little one is safe in the water. Fair enough. That...
31/07/2026

Nobody signs up for swim lessons to make memories.

You sign up so your little one is safe in the water. Fair enough. That's the reason I want every family to come too.

But that's not the part you'll carry.

Years from now, you won't remember the week she first floated. You'll remember the drive there with the radio on. The particular smell of the change rooms. Her wet little head against your neck on the way out, worn out and happy. The way she reached for you the second she got nervous, and how it felt to be the one she reached for.

The swimming is the reason you come. The rest is what you keep.

One day these ordinary mornings are going to be the ones you'd give anything to have back.

So this is your reminder. You're in them right now.

What's a swim day moment you never want to forget? 💦

30/07/2026

Have a look at who's in the water.

Mums. Dads. Grandparents. Teachers who know every bub by name. Different arms every week, all holding the same little swimmers.

I've believed this for a long time: nobody raises a water baby alone. It's a village thing. Someone does the Tuesday lesson, someone does the weekend splash, someone stands at the edge holding the towel open like a warm little tent.

And something I learned back in my lifeguarding years still holds true. The water doesn't just build swimmers. It builds communities. People brought together by the same love, learning to love life together.

That's what we want Waterlings to be too. Part of your village. Not just the nappy in the swim bag, but a place to land, right here on this little corner of the internet. Ask us anything. Share your wins with us. Follow along for the journey.

Whoever brings your bub to the water, we're here for all of you.

Who's in your little one's water village? 🩵

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Sydney, NSW
2031

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