---
title: "Holland Sentinel: Chris DeJong working to expand Big Blue Swim School"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/4bc3e345-680f-4bff-a695-9d0ff3dd57ba
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/holland-sentinel-chris-dejong-working-to-expand-big-blue-swim-school-2710299
category: "Swim"
industry: "Education & Childcare"
segment: "Swim"
topics: ["Development & multi-unit"]
published: 2019-12-26T04:23:02.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:04:16.089Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/0d0d6b70e08081051968713e920264ec8364.jpg
---

# Holland Sentinel: Chris DeJong working to expand Big Blue Swim School

**TL;DR:** Big Blue Swim School plans to expand to 400 locations in the next 10 years. Chris DeJong, Chief Marketing Officer of Big Blue Swim School, discussed the growth of the children's swim school franchise.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2019-12-26. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/holland-sentinel-chris-dejong-working-to-expand-big-blue-swim-school-2710299).*

## Story

Holland native Chris DeJong, former national team swimmer and now Chief Marketing Officer of Big Blue Swim School , spoke with his hometown paper, the Holland Sentinel, about the growth of the children's swim school franchise from four Chicagoland locations to an expected 400 locations in the next ten years. DeJong talked about how the end of his swim career inspired him to take his background and put it to use helping children learn a vital life skill.

“We we have a long-term vision of over the next 10 years to teach a third of the kids in the U.S. How to swim, which is 400 locations. Someone is going to do it, why not us?’” he said. “I feel like it is impossible to get out of any body water in a worse mood than when you got in.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- unit expansion (topic)
- franchise growth (topic)
- Education & Childcare (sector)
- Big Blue Swim School (company)
- Chris DeJong (person)
- swim education (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/holland-sentinel-chris-dejong-working-to-expand-big-blue-swim-school-2710299). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/4bc3e345-680f-4bff-a695-9d0ff3dd57ba).