For the sixth summer, SOS Sink or Swim is providing free swimming lessons at Talbot County’s two outdoor pools to participants like these from 2018, with registration now open at bit.ly/freeswimminglessons. Administered by Talbot County Parks & Recreation, the program offers lessons to children between the ages of 18 months to 18 years, and to a limited number of adults, with participation available on a first-come, first-served basis
(ST MICHAELS, MD –April 24, 2019) SOS Sink or Swim will again provide free swimming lessons at Talbot County’s two outdoor pools this summer. These lessons are provided free of charge to all children between the ages of 18 months to 18 years, with no questions asked. Free adult lessons are also available, thanks to a special grant received from concerned donors.
This year’s program will again be administered by Talbot County Parks & Recreation, with registration forms now online at bit.ly/freeswimminglessons or at sossinkorswim.org.
Two-week swimming sessions begin June 17 at the Bay Hundred Community Pool in St. Michaels, Md., and the George Murphy Community Pool in Easton, Md. The first registration deadline is June 7, and lessons run Mondays through Thursdays. Sessions for child lessons and Jr. Lifeguard training run through early August. Adult swimming lessons will be held at both pools during the week of July 4.
“These lessons are provided free of charge with no questions asked, and now free adult lessons are also available, thanks to a special grant received from concerned donors,” said SOS President Elizabeth Moose. “Talbot County has more than 600 miles of shoreline, yet many children and their family members don’t have the opportunity to ever get in the water, much less to feel safe and secure when they are close to a pool, a river or the Bay.”
This is the sixth summer SOS is offering these free lessons. Through donations and local support, SOS has provided 3,999 swimming lessons since the program started, and has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars to support its program.
“Last summer, 1,121 children learned to swim, 16 children took lifeguarding training, and 61 adults came out for our special adult sessions,” continued Moose. “Children from Critchlow Adkins Daycare Centers, the Community Resource Center, Talbot Mentors, and those through the referrals of local police organizations, churches and other local organizations, look forward every summer to learn how to swim.”
“We understand through a recent agreement between Talbot County Council and the Y of the Chesapeake, that the Y will begin managing the Bay Hundred and George Murphy pools this season,” commented Moose. “The SOS Executive Council wishes the County and the Y well in their efforts to ensure that the public pools and swimming are available to all county residents.”
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