Savannah Swim Team and coach Paul Thompson made their first splash in 1962 in the 55 yard Daffin Park pool, which has since been replaced by a 25 yard facility. When summer turned to winter, the team moved indoors at an old downtown Savannah YMCA that was located at the corner of Whitaker and Oglethorpe streets.  In the early years, the Willoughby, Tyson, and Artley families were instrumental in keeping the team afloat.

SST evolved in the mid to late 60's as a community service course at Armstrong State College (now Armstrong Atlantic State University), and for many years the team practiced, on and off, at Armstrong's pool during the academic year. However their were some turbulent times for the team in the late 60's and early 70's when the team dwindled to just three swimmers! The Artley family, determined to keep the team going, actually built a pool in their Isle of Hope back yard where Will Artley, Missy Willoughby, and George Lingenfelser practiced their way to college under the coaching of Will's mom. Will and Missy swam for the University of Florida and George, of course, swam at Georgia!

 Eventually, parents established the Savannah Swim Team as a registered, 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization and hired outside coaches not associated with Armstrong faculty.  For several decades SST parents promoted year round swimming in the community, provided much assistance to the Savannah Coastal Swim League during the summer months, and hosted small meets at Armstrong for area teams. A multitude of swimmers developed themselves as athletes and successful citizens during those years.

After the Chatham County Aquatic Center opened in February 1998, SST immediately took advantage of the new competitive and training facility to begin hosting major meets. The team contracted with Champion for coaching, which was provided by Champion employees.  Under Coach Robbin White, the team parents learned how to host championship caliber meets so that local swimmers would have the opportunity to swim in their own "back yard." SST meets draw several thousand visitors to Savannah annually. The Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce has estimated that our meets contribute in excess of $9 million to the local economy each year.

In 2005, the team hired Rick Benner to take the team to the next level. A number of swimmers rose to national prominence under Benner's coaching. Three swimmers travelled to Indianapolis to swim in the Junior Nationals, one of which also swam at the Olympic Trials before moving on to a college career at the University of Georgia. In 2008, Coach Benner moved on to Virginia and the team hired one of its former swimmers as the new head coach when Joe Witt came on board.

The team is run by a parent board of directors, which meet monthly to discuss long range planning, team development, fund raising, running meets, etc.  Virtually all non-coaching functions are carried out by dedicated parent volunteers.

If you have a contribution to make to this history, please email the team at SwimSST@gmail.com.