---
title: "BusinessDen: Former Orangetheory Franchisees Move Into Swim School Market"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/19492a7b-7100-489e-8445-ed3adfcbf1ea
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/businessden-former-orangetheory-franchisees-move-into-swim-school-market-2711954
category: "Fitness"
industry: "Fitness"
published: 2020-01-03T02:21:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:30:47.268Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/e05662eab1b3d24adbc0524c3a1b08f9206.jpg
---

# BusinessDen: Former Orangetheory Franchisees Move Into Swim School Market

**TL;DR:** Former Orangetheory franchisees Erik and Wendy Skaalerud are bringing Big Blue Swim School to Denver, Colorado, with five locations planned. The Illinois-based brand currently has five locations in the Chicago area with plans to open 150 locations by 2021.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-01-03. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/businessden-former-orangetheory-franchisees-move-into-swim-school-market-2711954).*

## Story

**According to BusinessDen, Denver franchisees Erik and Wendy Skaalerud will be bringing five Big Blue Swim School locations to the Denver area, starting in Centennial. The Illinois-based brand currently has five locations in the Chicago area with plans to open 150 locations by 2021.**

**The Skaaleruds are anticipating great success in the Denver market. “This is where we felt we could make the biggest impact,” Erik Skaalerud told BusinessDen. “It is literally one of the highest populations of little kids.”**

**“Wendy and Erik were the first franchisees to sign on to grow Big Blue, and now that our team of real estate specialists have identified the perfect place for their first pool, our team will be executing our New Pool Opening process so the Skaaleruds will experience a successful market launch,” said Big Blue CDO Scott Thompson.**

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- franchise expansion (topic)
- Fitness (sector)
- Denver (location)
- Big Blue Swim School (company)
- new locations (topic)
- Scott Thompson (person)
- Orangetheory (company)
- swim school market (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/businessden-former-orangetheory-franchisees-move-into-swim-school-market-2711954). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/19492a7b-7100-489e-8445-ed3adfcbf1ea).