---
title: "SwimSwam Podcast: Chris DeJong on Fastest 400m Kick Ever"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/e915845f-2e51-4ee1-8190-1fdb53208d03
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/swimswam-podcast-chris-dejong-on-fastest-400m-kick-ever-2714250
category: "Education & Childcare"
industry: "Education & Childcare"
published: 2020-11-12T19:14:31.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:27:43.128Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/696bce1e15d7e71b567831f96843ea977208.jpg
---

# SwimSwam Podcast: Chris DeJong on Fastest 400m Kick Ever

**TL;DR:** Chris DeJong, founder and CEO of Big Blue Swim School, discusses his competitive swimming days and starting the swim school franchise. Big Blue Swim School has grown quickly since franchising in 2009 and currently has 83 units in development across the country.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2020-11-12. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/swimswam-podcast-chris-dejong-on-fastest-400m-kick-ever-2714250).*

## Story

Chris DeJong, founder and CEO of Big Blue Swim School, sat down with the SwimSwam podcast as a guest on itsSwim CEO Series. On the show, he discussed his competitive swimming days and how he started up the now multi-million dollar swim school franchise, Big Blue Swim School. When DeJong retired from his career as a swimmer, he knew he wanted to start the school to share his passion for the sport with kids. What sets Big Blue Swim School apart from the competition is LessonBuddy™, its proprietary enterprise software that helps franchise partners handle operations and parents schedule lessons.

“When we were getting started, the off-the-shelf software platforms were not very good. So, [in launching this software it was like] we were starting two companies at the same time,” DeJong explained. “We started a learn-to-swim company and a software company built to run all of our management.”

Since it began franchising in 2009, Big Blue Swim School has grown quickly and currently has 83 units in development across the country.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- franchise growth (topic)
- Education & Childcare (sector)
- Big Blue Swim School (company)
- Chris DeJong (person)
- swim school franchise (topic)
- proprietary software (topic)
- competitive swimming (topic)

---
Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/swimswam-podcast-chris-dejong-on-fastest-400m-kick-ever-2714250). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/e915845f-2e51-4ee1-8190-1fdb53208d03).