Though hanging out in the water brings relaxation to many, it’s a different matter for parents whose children don’t know how to swim.
But Big Blue Swim School — one of the fastest-growing franchises in the $3 billion learn-to-swim industry — is on the way to Point Loma Plaza at 3645 Midway Drive. The commercial center is owned by Regency Centers, based in Jacksonville, Fla.
Big Blue — headquartered in Chicago and founded in 2009 by competitive swimmer Chris DeJong, formerly of the U.S. Men’s National Team — typically chooses locations in high-traffic shopping areas frequented by families.
The company targets spaces around 10,000 square feet and finds the large spaces vacated by big-box stores particularly attractive.
The 10,543-square-foot site at the south end of Point Loma Plaza was formerly occupied by a FedEx Office and an American Cancer Society Discovery Store. Both of those businesses moved to new locations, according to Laura Borenstein-Hofman, San Diego regional property manager for Regency Centers.
Hofman said Big Blue plans to open toward the end of January.
“We typically lease to who the community wants and needs,” Hofman said. “We’re very excited to have Big Blue Swim School open here.”
Tanner Maginnis, general manager of Big Blue Swim School in Huntington Beach, said the company started expanding after realizing a need for swimming and safety lessons, especially for young children.
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1-4, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Children’s Safety Network says children for one in four drowning deaths and that “formal swimming lessons reduce the risk of drowning in 1- to 4-year-old children by 88 percent,” as of July 2016.
“Although we teach clients from 3 months old to 12 years, the majority of our students are under 10 years old,” Maginnis said.
Many who take children to the school are young parents who realize they aren’t equipped to teach them to swim, Maginnis said. It’s “eye-opening” to realize how many people don’t know how to swim, he said, and to discover how many parents are concerned that they’re ing their own anxiety about swimming to their children.
“And for the kids, a lot of them are pandemic babies, so they have a lot to learn about socialization and being around other children, in addition to learning swimming and safety,” Maginnis said.
Big Blue offers 10 levels of swimming instruction as well as semi-private lessons.
Rachel Jimenez, a Big Blue spokeswoman, said “we are in this market because there is a need for it. The program is focused on safety and swimming. They make sure that both the parents and the children are comfortable.”
Water in the school’s swimming pools is kept at 90 degrees. Facilities also include showers, individual changing rooms, slip-resistant carpeting and a parent viewing area.
The large pools generally feature 13 lanes, enabling families to have older and younger siblings take lessons in different areas at the same time.
Jimenez said the setup is very open so children can see their parents.
The learning often starts long before the students arrive at the facility, with the entire family taking part. Maginnis, who teaches one day a week, said students might be asked to practice wearing their water goggles at home outside the water so they are comfortable with them at the school.
Once at the facility, students have an activity such as coloring before they get in the water.
The instructors receive more than 100 hours of professional training, plus two hours of additional training each week.
Lessons are adapted for each child.
“Swimmers will progress from learning how to be safe in the water to learning different strokes and building their skills to become proficient, strong swimmers,” according to the school’s website.
Fees at the Point Loma school are expected to be similar to those in Huntington Beach, where rates are $39 per lesson for ages 3 months to 6 years and $46 per lesson for older than 6. Weekly lessons are taught year-round, and parents can stop and start the lessons when they choose.
Maginnis said he expects the Point Loma facility to teach about 2,000 lessons a week.
In June 2022, Big Blue announced its goal of opening 70 schools in California over five years. Franchise partner L5 Swim developed the first two locations in Huntington Beach and Tustin, as well as an additional 20 spots as part of a larger deal to open 43 schools across the country.
Though Big Blue’s initial focus was on Los Angeles and Orange counties, it signed an agreement with Blue Marlin Ventures to open eight schools in the San Diego area.
In Huntington Beach, “more than 500 people showed up for opening day,” Maginnis said. “We definitely made the right decision.”
Working with children “fills one of those holes you didn’t know you had,” Maginnis said.
“I wasn’t prepared for the connections with the families and the community we would build,” he said. “When the kids see me in public, they come running to ‘Coach Tanner,’ and it’s just really, really fun.”
For more information about Big Blue Swim School in Point Loma and to the interest list, visit bit.ly/3Qw0Y6k.
