Short-term plan
The first one to three clubs.
We're looking for minority or majority positions in U.S. swim clubs. Buy, hold and operate for the long run, no flipping. The swim club is the customer, and the point of the first deals is to prove the model in the water rather than on paper.
Why owners and coaches call us
Out of conversations with 100+ club coaches across the country, five reasons come up again and again.
Retirement and succession
Owners who built something valuable and have no exit. A majority stake lets them take real money off the table for the first time.
Ease of workload
Owners swamped with the back end who want more water time and don't have the hours or the appetite to pull the growth levers the club needs.
Non-profit to for-profit
Head coaches tired of boards, capped salaries and no retirement. We finance and help run the switch to a coach-owned team.
Pool builds
Most coaches rent lanes and are limited by facilities they don't control. We're working with developers and real estate groups on what an affordable build actually looks like.
Growth capital
SBA and bank loans require a lease as long as the loan, and rec centers, schools and cities rarely sign past a year. That makes normal financing nearly impossible, so coaches can come to us instead.
Seven levers once we're in
- Masters, triathlon and open water
- Swim lesson programs
- Lifeguard training and certification
- Larger and more frequent hosted meets
- Clinics
- An associated non-profit for community programs and expenses
- Proprietary meet filming: heat sheet in, event-long clips delivered to each swimmer
Minority or majority
We usually prefer a minority position when there's an operator in place who knows the community. A majority stake makes sense in a succession, where the outgoing owner helps us train and hire the next head coach.