Thrive Global: President of Big Blue Swim School Chris DeJong Discusses His Journey of Launching a Business

Chris DeJong , president and founder of Big Blue Swim School , a children’s swim school that helps children achieve life-changing moments, recently discussed his journey to founding the swim school with Thrive Global .

Before starting Big Blue Swim School , DeJong was ranked 4th in the U.S. and 5th in the world in the backstroke category, but after coming in right behind Michael Phelps by just three-tenths of a second in the Olympic qualifiers, his swimming career was over.

Soon after, DeJong founded Big Blue, now with more than 10 open locations and another 150 in development. With the company expanding rapidly under his watch, DeJong hopes to bring Big Blue to every state in the U.S.

According to DeJong, the perseverance that he learned in swimming has been a huge piece of his life as a founder. Once he had the idea to break into franchising with a swim school, his mind was made up.

When speaking about his journey, DeJong stated, “There have been many small steps and decisions along the way to lead us to the current moment that we are in, but I’ve never lost sight of the ultimate goal. You have to be flexible and recognize when you need to take a few steps outside of our original framework, but those are still steps that you are taking to move forward.”