---
title: "Ahwatukee Foothills News: High-tech swim school eyes Ahwatukee"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/6794b618-ff72-47ff-9986-e67f09c6fa4a
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/ahwatukee-foothills-news-high-tech-swim-school-eyes-ahwatukee-2710564
category: "Swim"
industry: "Education & Childcare"
segment: "Swim"
topics: ["Technology"]
published: 2019-12-26T05:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:30:20.016Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/6678b670908e01726b8edf56fb2e63067092.jpg
---

# Ahwatukee Foothills News: High-tech swim school eyes Ahwatukee

**TL;DR:** Big Blue Swim School founder Chris DeJong is scouting locations in the Phoenix metropolitan area for the next Big Blue Swim School, targeting abandoned shopping centers and strip malls. Big Blue Swim School stimulates jobs in the local economy by employing full-time instructors.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2019-12-26. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/ahwatukee-foothills-news-high-tech-swim-school-eyes-ahwatukee-2710564).*

## Story

Chris DeJoeng began Big Blue Swim School as a way to continue his passion for swimming after retiring from his own swimming career. He rented a commercial pool in 2009 and began teaching young children children 6 months to 12 years old. “I loved it and got to share my passion with young kids,” said DeJeong, who is a father of two himself.

As reported by an interview conducted by the Ahwatukee Foothills News, DeJoeng has scoped out about a dozen sites in the Valley region of the Phoenix metropolitan area for the next location of Big Blue Swim School. He has found that this concept is a great way to revitalize abandoned shopping centers and strip malls. “Institutional landlords or the big landlords that own a lot of these shopping centers love our concept,” said DeJeong.

Big Blue also stimulates jobs within the local economy, according to DeJeong, by employing only full-time instructors and preparing them with a career path for the future.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Education & Childcare (sector)
- Big Blue Swim School (company)
- Chris DeJong (person)
- job creation (topic)
- location scouting (topic)
- swim school expansion (topic)
- Phoenix Metropolitan area (location)
- retail redevelopment (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/ahwatukee-foothills-news-high-tech-swim-school-eyes-ahwatukee-2710564). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/6794b618-ff72-47ff-9986-e67f09c6fa4a).