The first habit-building platform for swimming, a digitally underserved sport.
From swimmer to entrepreneur, turning the value of records into everyday life.
Korea's #1 swimming app, "Swim," expands globally.
“Adding motivation to the lives of all swimmers.”
Running and health are already dominated by various fitness apps. However, swimming has been different. Due to the limitations of the aquatic environment, recording and certification have been difficult, hindering digitalization. As the recreational sports market increasingly embraces digitalization, a specialized app for the once-neglected sport of swimming, "Syeong," is gaining prominence. Developed by Goodnodes, the app currently boasts 45,000 cumulative downloads and 28,000 cumulative subscribers, ranking it as the #1 swimming app in Korea on the App Store and Google Play Store. This achievement was achieved by a team of just six. CEO Lim Hye-jeong, a recreational swimmer with 18 years of experience, took on the development project herself to improve the poor recording environment and realize the potential of the swimming market.
The Beginning of a Startup: Understanding the Market through Lessons Learned from Failure
CEO Lim Hye-jeong majored in economics in college and took entrepreneurship classes, which sparked her interest in entrepreneurship. Witnessing the impact unicorn companies like Baedal Minjok and Coupang had on people's lives sparked her interest in IT entrepreneurship. After graduation, she studied development at a boot camp and formed a team to create her own service. Her initial product was a blockchain-based dating app.
"I created a blockchain dating app, but it failed quickly. I didn't understand the market and relied solely on the technology."
Although it failed due to lack of users, it served as a lesson. He realized the error of his approach, which ignored market needs. He then turned to swimming, a longtime hobby. It was something he'd dreamed of even before development, and he knew the market better than anyone. He persuaded his team members to start it as a side project. While some found jobs, CEO Lim continued the development alone. He earned his swimming instructor certification and worked part-time, teaching children swimming lessons three times a day, gaining valuable insights from the field.
“I experienced the inconveniences of target users firsthand in the field, and my understanding of the swimming market deepened.”
Lim Dae-pyo decided to create a fitness app "for swimming, by swimmers." That's how "Swimming" began.
The key is authentication and motivation.
CEO Lim Hye-jeong began learning to swim in elementary school and continued her routine into adulthood. However, unlike running or weight training, swimming was difficult to record and lacked a culture of certification, making it difficult to maintain a consistent exercise routine. There were few swimming apps, and those from overseas were not well-suited to the Korean market in terms of language and usability.
"Swimming is difficult to verify. Since cell phones are prohibited, we have to use photos of locker keys or swimsuits as verification. Things have gotten a little better with the advent of smartwatches, but it's still inconvenient."
The unique environment of the swimming pool makes it difficult to verify "Ounwan" (today's workout completed) or check accumulated records, a common inconvenience faced by many swimmers. Motivational tools to naturally develop swimming habits were also lacking. "Ssang" was developed to address this issue.
The app is designed to integrate with Apple Watch, but also allows users without a smartwatch to manually record their swimming distance and time. The records aren't just a series of numbers; they're designed to visually reflect the user's progress. This feature naturally inspires swimmers to "go to the pool one more time today than yesterday."
The signature feature, "Stroke Bar," visualizes the stroke and distance swum that day, including freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, in a bar format. Based on this data, users can fill out a monthly calendar to visually monitor their stamina and even extend it to social media verification. The "One-Page Report" feature organizes a month's worth of swimming data on a single screen. Ten parameters are displayed in graphs, including total swimming time, daily swim counts, preferred stroke, calories, heart rate, pace, and pool visit history. Changes compared to the previous month can also be viewed.
"This feature allows users to track their own growth and compete against each other. It allows for seamless recording, even without a watch."
Other features include a swim log, a search for the locations of over 1,000 swimming pools nationwide, free swim and lesson schedules, and visitor reviews. The official Instagram account also shares swimming content and events.
The flow of recording → visualization → sharing → a sense of accomplishment directly stimulates users' motivation. The slogan, "As records accumulate, swimming becomes a habit," captures the essence of the app. Beyond being a simple fitness app, "Swimming"'s greatest strength lies in its psychological design, which helps users form and sustain swimming habits.
The global expansion and future vision of 'Sung', which is expected to grow
Swimming ranks fifth among recreational sports, but has significant growth potential. Following the Sewol ferry disaster, survival swimming education has led to the creation of over 300 children's swimming pools, and the government is currently building 300 more school pools. Furthermore, swimming is gentle on joints, making it a valuable form of rehabilitation exercise for seniors in our increasingly aging society.
"Swimming is a timeless, lifelong sport. It can also contribute to reducing national health insurance costs. There are many opportunities to address the challenges of swimming pool registration and costs. The younger generation will likely become more swimmers than my generation."
CEO Lim points out that the barriers to entry for finding a swimming pool (location, cost, registration system, etc.) remain high, but believes "Ssang" has many potential solutions to address these challenges. The company was also officially recognized for its potential as a swimming-specific fitness platform, having been selected for the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation's Sports Preliminary Early Support Program in 2024 and the Google-Korea Institute of Startups and Entrepreneurship Development's 2025 window program.
In July 2024, the company officially launched an English version of the app, launching a service for global users. Its primary target markets were the United States and Japan. The United States boasts a large swimming and fitness market and a mature subscription culture, while Japan boasts a similar culture of handwritten records and a similar population of recreational sports participants.
"The app's structure makes localization less of a burden. Simply translate the interface and you're ready to deploy. Organic traffic is already accumulating in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia."
CEO Lim also plans to evolve "Swim" beyond a simple tracking app into an AI-based swimming coaching platform. Swimming is a sport where form is crucial. He's currently researching a feature that uses AI to analyze video data captured on a smartphone to visualize an individual's growth curve. This will enable posture correction, stroke-specific analysis, and even provide commentary. Long-term, he's also exploring the potential for swimming commerce, class matching, and offline training integration.
The goal is to create an app that makes you want to swim every day.
CEO Lim Hye-jeong defines "Swim" as "an app that makes you want to keep swimming." She prides herself on meeting user needs, maintaining 1,500 organic new users and 19,000 monthly active users (MAU) without any extensive marketing. User reviews and screenshots are constantly posted on her blog and Instagram. Repeated feedback like, "It makes you want to go swimming more often" led the team to naturally define the essence of the service as "motivation."
CEO Lim says, "More than the pride of a well-made product, the user's reactions are the team's dopamine booster." He describes swimming as a lifelong exercise, a companion sport. And Ssang aims to be a tool that accompanies that journey.
"If you keep a record, your behavior will change, and if your behavior changes, it will become a habit. 'Swimming' aims to be an app that turns swimming into a habit."
Goodnose's journey has just begun. "Swim," a leader in digital innovation in swimming, is increasingly becoming a natural fit for anyone who wants to record their swimming.
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