[SINGAPORE] As a former competitive swimmer waiting to enter university, Joyce Lee started freelancing as a swim instructor in 1999 to help support her family in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Now, the founder of Singapore-based swim school Fitness Champs is raising US$15 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq, and looking to expand beyond the Republic.
Fitness Champs is offering a total of 3.75 million shares – two million by the company and 1.75 million by selling shares – to the public at US$4 apiece.
The company expects to make US$8 million in gross proceeds from the offering, before deducting underwriting discounts and other related expenses.
Net proceeds from the offering will primarily be used to strengthen the company’s coaching team by hiring and training more coaches; for marketing and branding; for business development, such as vertical expansion in other aquatic sports; and for potential strategic acquisitions.
The remainder will go into repaying loans taken out by its controlling shareholder in connection with the costs of the offering; and for general working capital and corporate purposes.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
Lee said Fitness Champs has experienced steady growth since its inception in 2007.
For the latest full year ended December 2024, however, gross profit fell 23.5 per cent year on year to S$1.5 million, from S$2 million the year before. FY2024 revenue slipped 9.3 per cent to S$4.2 million.
Operating profit – after deducting operating costs and expenses – tumbled to S$46,000 for FY2024, down from S$1.2 million in FY2023.
Lee attributed this decline to a one-off surge in 2023, when post-pandemic backlogs led to unusually high demand for lessons.
“We hit a peak in 2023 because schools were rushing to clear multiple cohorts. In 2024, things normalised, with only one cohort per school to teach,” she said.
In an exclusive interview with The Business Times, Lee said the Nasdaq listing would potentially help Fitness Champs to be “pandemic-proof”.
It is now one of the largest swim schools in Singapore, with more than 100 annual contracts with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and over 2,000 private students.
“Swimming was booming because MOE wanted the kids to learn how to swim, so I started teaching full time then,” Lee said.
With the SwimSafer curriculum – a swimming and water-safety education programme introduced by the government – parents started seeing the need to send their children for lessons. Lee said there has been steady demand for her classes over the years, given that women instructors were more sought after.
But the swim school was badly hit during the Covid-19 pandemic. All classes were suspended and their employees – comprising mainly freelance swimming coaches – had to go without income.
The 45-year-old owner believes the listing will improve the company’s financial stability, ensuring support for employees in future crises.
Going global
Fitness Champs had planned to list in April, but held off on this plan when market conditions turned adverse with US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his “Liberation Day” tariffs.
On the decision to list on Nasdaq rather than Singapore, Lee emphasised global expansion as a key factor.
Fitness Champs plans to establish a presence in South Korea and Dubai by year-end, backed by a grant from Enterprise Singapore.
The company is negotiating an exchange programme with a South Korean swim school to bring students to Singapore for intensive SwimSafer training, while offering Singaporean students the chance to experience South Korea’s swim culture.
Fitness Champs is also in talks to bring a modified version of Singapore’s SwimSafer curriculum to Dubai’s international schools, and to give its current students an opportunity to experience Singapore’s swim culture.
On the local front, the company is actively recruiting freelancers to expand its reach.
Looking ahead, Lee does not foresee a price increase for classes following the Nasdaq listing. However, she acknowledged that parents may expect a higher level of professionalism.
“Our goal is not just expansion, but to raise industry standards,” she said, expressing hope that more freelance instructors will transition to full-time roles under Fitness Champs.
