On the inception of the Goldfish Swim School, McCuiston said, “My wife and I were both athletes growing up in high school. I played baseball for Michigan, and a few years after we got married, Jenny was teaching swimming lessons on the side over the course of every summer. She came across the swim school model when she was in college.”
“We spent two years touring the country and meeting swim school owners,” he said. “We thought our idea was unique and we made it even more special than the schools we saw. In 2006, we opened up our first location in Birmingham, Michigan.”
McCuiston had nothing but the nicest remarks about having Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Ryan Murphy as their ambassador. “We love Ryan for his passion for swimming and water safety. He’s an ambassador of the USA Swimming Foundation, which we are partners with as well,” he said. “Ryan’s core values stand out: he’s compassionate, humble and he has integrity. We are hoping to help him train and raise more awareness.”
On his plans for the future with the Goldfish Swim School, he said, “We have 87 locations open and we have another 19 under construction. We are 205 locations signed for to be developed. Ultimately, we hope to have 260 locations open by the year 2024. We want to be the largest swim school provider in North America, where we create a great model around drowning prevention and infant child swimming.”
“We are excited to continue our growth with people that want to make this a lifestyle and a business,” he added.
Digital transformation of aquatics
Regarding the impact of technology on his swim school, he said, “Technology has helped us in our training of staff to understand the technique, and getting our teachers how to swim freestyle and backstroke. Technology has allowed us to free up our ability to service our members and teach better swim lessons.”
McCuiston shared that they are in the process of using GoPro for training purposes. “We are going to start recording lessons to help our teachers get better with technique, communication, and overall experience,” he said.
In his personal life, Chris is a husband to Jenny, who co-founded Goldfish Swim School with him, and a father to four young boys. On balancing his work life with his personal life, he said, “It is called a calendar. I am very detailed, and I put everything on the calendar, even the simplest things. Everything has to be detailed and written out.”
McCuiston defined the word success as “waking up, feeling happy, joyful and fulfilled.”
To learn more about the Goldfish Swim School, check out their official website.
Read More: Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Ryan Murphy sat down and chatted with Digital Journal about his partnership with the Goldfish Swim School.
