SwimZip Shark Tank Update: What Happened After Shark Tank?

What is SwimZip?

SwimZip is a company offering UV protective swimwear and accessories for children. Most famous for its zippered shirts, SwimZip allows children the independence of dressing and undressing themselves. All of the clothing and accessories offered by SwimZip are made from chlorine-safe fabrics and come in a variety of fun colors and patterns.

Who are the SwimZip Founder?

Betsy Johnson founded SwimZip in 2010 with her brother, Berry Wanless. Prior to founding the company, Johnson attended the University of Puget Sound from 2003 to 2007. She then worked in finance for Boeing Company until 2009. Today Johnson remains the President of Swimzip with Wanless as its Vice President as the company continues to run successfully.

Founder’s Story

Johnson’s entrepreneurial journey is nothing short of inspiring. She came up with the idea of Swimzip after her life-changing skin cancer diagnosis at just 26 years old. This prompted her to re-evaluate her life as well as her career – making the risky decision to leave her corporate job and dedicate her life to developing UV protective clothing.

As a mother, Johnson wanted to protect her children from the same fate, but she knew how frustrating it can be as a parent to put kids swim shirts on and take them off.

This led her to the idea of creating zippered shirt fronts – and thus, Swimzip was born. Success followed quickly thanks to their hard work, as Swimzip achieved $525,000 in sales by its third year – a whopping 1100% increase from the previous year.

SwimZip remains in business today, currently offering its products on its company website as well as on Amazon. There is no question that SwimZip has made a ‘splash’ on the market by making parent’s lives easier, all while providing them the peace of mind that their children are safe from UV rays while enjoying a day at the pool or beach.