OUR HISTORY
SOS Sink or Swim began in 2014 as a program of the Miles River Yacht Club Foundation (MRYCF), an independent 501(c)(3) organization. MRYCF enlisted the Saint Michaels Community Center to provide the administrative oversight for the swimming program at the Bay Hundred Pool in Saint Michaels. Other area youth organizations, such as Critchlow Adkins, Talbot Mentors, churches and the local police department were contacted by SMCC to enlist enrollees. The need for and success of SOS were proven in its first year, and in 2016, SOS was able to expand the program to the George Murphy Pool in Easton.
In February 2017, the Miles River Yacht Club Foundation's Board of Directors determined that SOS had grown beyond its oversight capacity. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum agreed to be the SOS fiscal sponsor. In this same year, an Executive Council was established as the governing body of SOS Sink or Swim.
SOS Sink or Swim now partners with Talbot County Parks and Recreation to administer our swimming lessons each summer. Three 2-week youth sessions are offered each year for swimmers at varying skill levels from age 18 months to 18 years. SOS also offers two 1-week Junior Lifeguard training sessions and two 1-week adult swimming lessons every summer. SOS also teams up with local children’s programs, including Critchlow Adkins Children's Centers, the Mid-Shore Early Learning Center, and BAAM to provide private lessons for children in their summer programs.
In the summer of 2025, SOS hit a major milestone, surpassing 10,000 life-saving learn-to-swim sessions provided in Talbot County, and to date, we have provided nearly 12,000 sessions.
