Hunter Brink began working in aquatics nearly a decade ago, becoming a lifeguard at 16 and later an aquatics director and urSwim instructor. Although he initially planned to attend medical school, his experience with the mobile swim instruction and pool management franchise ultimately led him to pursue business ownership.
“I really loved working with Marina [Mentzel] building the swim school,” Hunter said. “I really loved the urSwim business model. I decided that I was going to pivot and take a chance on myself and open a small business and purchase the franchise.”
His mom, Danelle Brink, came to the business from a very different background. She spent her career working in Manhattan as an IT recruiter for global companies, including CGI and IBM. While the industries were different, she saw a connection between helping people find the right career and helping families through swim instruction.
“As an IT recruiter, the reason why I liked that job was that I helped people connect their career and future and the impact that it had on their family,” Danelle said. “This is similar in the sense that you're impacting a family.”
That mission became one of the biggest reasons the Brinks chose to move forward with the franchise. Teaching children to swim gives them a skill they can carry for the rest of their lives while helping families stay safer around water.
“You're teaching people how to swim. It's survival,” Danelle said. “You get to know them and their families and what's really important to them, and then you get to also help save lives.”
The Brinks officially became urSwim franchisees on Jan. 1, 2024, taking over the brand’s Fairfield, Connecticut, territory. Although they were stepping into an existing territory, they still had to rebuild much of the local business.
“Hunter had been working for urSwim when they opened that location, so he was there from the beginning as a swim instructor,” Danelle said. “He knew some of the employees and swimmers, and some of those families came back. But after losing a year of presence in the community, we really had to build the brand back up from scratch.”
The family began getting involved with local parent groups, attending community events, building partnerships and using local advertising to let families know urSwim was back. At the same time, they focused on the quality of the swim program and generating word-of-mouth referrals.
“Nothing is better than having clients that say, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, there's an amazing swim school that is at the LA Fitness,’” Danelle said. “Really, building the quality of the program was the foundation.”
urSwim’s corporate team also helped the family build awareness through marketing support, including designing ads and advising where to direct advertising dollars.
“The urSwim franchise system really helped light a fire under everything we were doing with marketing,” Hunter said. “They supported us with designing ads, directing our ad spend and getting our swim school in front of more people. The franchise system has really helped us amplify the urSwim name.”
As the Trumbull business grew, the Brinks started looking for another location where they could serve additional families. They found that opportunity in nearby Stratford, where they saw there was a gap in the market. The Stratford location was also close enough to Trumbull that the Brinks could manage staffing and operations between the two pools.
“It was really important to us to be able to provide that service of preventing drowning,” Danelle said. “The fact that we could make such an impact in this area was really important to us.”
The Brinks opened their second hosted pool location in Stratford in May 2025.
As urSwim’s first franchisees, the Brinks have had the opportunity to experience the franchise system from its earliest stages. Before taking over the territory, they completed training with the corporate team, learning the operating systems and lessons urSwim’s leadership had developed through years in aquatics.
“It's not just like, ‘OK, this is the playbook. Go do it yourself,’” Hunter said. “There are constant check-ins, being able to ask questions and just knowing, when you run into a problem, who you can go to to help you game plan how to solve it.”
That support was especially important to Danelle. While Hunter came into the business with years of aquatics experience, she was transitioning from a long corporate career into business ownership for the first time. What helped give her confidence was the culture created by urSwim leadership and the relationship the family developed with the corporate team.
“I was very, very, very risk-averse,” she said. “Being the first franchise, a totally new business, I was really concerned about what was going to happen. [The urSwim team] are so supportive, and they're super kind, patient and they want you to succeed. They really are passionate about swimming and saving lives and preventing drowning.”
Franchising has given Brinks a balance between the freedom to run their own business and an established system behind them.
“It's incredible to have the freedom to run a business and be my own boss and really captain my own ship, but then also have the framework of the franchise to operate within and give guardrails to what is a very scary wilderness out there,” Hunter said.
The family is now looking at ways to continue building both sides of the urSwim business. In addition to swim instruction, urSwim provides aquatic management services, including lifeguard staffing, training and pool management. Hunter said developing that side of the business will require continuing to build relationships with organizations and aquatic facilities throughout the area.
“The thing that I love about urSwim is that we're not just a swim school,” Hunter said. “We're an aquatic management company. We're your one-stop shop for everything aquatic programming related.”
Being urSwim’s first franchisees has ultimately become one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. The Brinks have been able to grow their own business while providing feedback as urSwim continues developing its franchise system.
“What I love about being the first franchise is that we're all growing together,” Danelle said. “We believe in urSwim. We believe in our leadership. We believe in the impact that we're going to have on our communities, and we believe in preventing drowning.”
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/urswim.
urSwim
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Hunter and Danelle Brink took over urSwim’s Fairfield territory in 2024 and have since expanded to a second pool location while helping shape the growing franchise system.
Hunter Brink began working in aquatics nearly a decade ago, becoming a lifeguard at 16 and later an aquatics director and urSwim instructor. Although he initially planned to attend medical school, his experience with the mobile swim instruction and pool management franchise ultimately led him to pursue business ownership.
“I really loved working with Marina [Mentzel] building the swim school,” Hunter said. “I really loved the urSwim business model. I decided that I was going to pivot and take a chance on myself and open a small business and purchase the franchise.”
His mom, Danelle Brink, came to the business from a very different background. She spent her career working in Manhattan as an IT recruiter for global companies, including CGI and IBM. While the industries were different, she saw a connection between helping people find the right career and helping families through swim instruction.
“As an IT recruiter, the reason why I liked that job was that I helped people connect their career and future and the impact that it had on their family,” Danelle said. “This is similar in the sense that you're impacting a family.”
That mission became one of the biggest reasons the Brinks chose to move forward with the franchise. Teaching children to swim gives them a skill they can carry for the rest of their lives while helping families stay safer around water.
“You're teaching people how to swim. It's survival,” Danelle said. “You get to know them and their families and what's really important to them, and then you get to also help save lives.”
The Brinks officially became urSwim franchisees on Jan. 1, 2024, taking over the brand’s Fairfield, Connecticut, territory. Although they were stepping into an existing territory, they still had to rebuild much of the local business.
“Hunter had been working for urSwim when they opened that location, so he was there from the beginning as a swim instructor,” Danelle said. “He knew some of the employees and swimmers, and some of those families came back. But after losing a year of presence in the community, we really had to build the brand back up from scratch.”
The family began getting involved with local parent groups, attending community events, building partnerships and using local advertising to let families know urSwim was back. At the same time, they focused on the quality of the swim program and generating word-of-mouth referrals.
“Nothing is better than having clients that say, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, there's an amazing swim school that is at the LA Fitness,’” Danelle said. “Really, building the quality of the program was the foundation.”
urSwim’s corporate team also helped the family build awareness through marketing support, including designing ads and advising where to direct advertising dollars.
“The urSwim franchise system really helped light a fire under everything we were doing with marketing,” Hunter said. “They supported us with designing ads, directing our ad spend and getting our swim school in front of more people. The franchise system has really helped us amplify the urSwim name.”
As the Trumbull business grew, the Brinks started looking for another location where they could serve additional families. They found that opportunity in nearby Stratford, where they saw there was a gap in the market. The Stratford location was also close enough to Trumbull that the Brinks could manage staffing and operations between the two pools.
“It was really important to us to be able to provide that service of preventing drowning,” Danelle said. “The fact that we could make such an impact in this area was really important to us.”
The Brinks opened their second hosted pool location in Stratford in May 2025.
As urSwim’s first franchisees, the Brinks have had the opportunity to experience the franchise system from its earliest stages. Before taking over the territory, they completed training with the corporate team, learning the operating systems and lessons urSwim’s leadership had developed through years in aquatics.
“It's not just like, ‘OK, this is the playbook. Go do it yourself,’” Hunter said. “There are constant check-ins, being able to ask questions and just knowing, when you run into a problem, who you can go to to help you game plan how to solve it.”
That support was especially important to Danelle. While Hunter came into the business with years of aquatics experience, she was transitioning from a long corporate career into business ownership for the first time. What helped give her confidence was the culture created by urSwim leadership and the relationship the family developed with the corporate team.
“I was very, very, very risk-averse,” she said. “Being the first franchise, a totally new business, I was really concerned about what was going to happen. [The urSwim team] are so supportive, and they're super kind, patient and they want you to succeed. They really are passionate about swimming and saving lives and preventing drowning.”
Franchising has given Brinks a balance between the freedom to run their own business and an established system behind them.
“It's incredible to have the freedom to run a business and be my own boss and really captain my own ship, but then also have the framework of the franchise to operate within and give guardrails to what is a very scary wilderness out there,” Hunter said.
The family is now looking at ways to continue building both sides of the urSwim business. In addition to swim instruction, urSwim provides aquatic management services, including lifeguard staffing, training and pool management. Hunter said developing that side of the business will require continuing to build relationships with organizations and aquatic facilities throughout the area.
“The thing that I love about urSwim is that we're not just a swim school,” Hunter said. “We're an aquatic management company. We're your one-stop shop for everything aquatic programming related.”
Being urSwim’s first franchisees has ultimately become one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. The Brinks have been able to grow their own business while providing feedback as urSwim continues developing its franchise system.
“What I love about being the first franchise is that we're all growing together,” Danelle said. “We believe in urSwim. We believe in our leadership. We believe in the impact that we're going to have on our communities, and we believe in preventing drowning.”
To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit https://1851franchise.com/urswim.
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