To Swim, Perchance to Dream #3: The White House Pool

Some people have a dream car, or a dream house.  But the more I get into swimming, the more I have dream pools.  Places I'd like to swim, or wish I could swim every day.

I recently started reading Lynn Sherr's Swim: Why We Love the Water (which I will definitely be writing about more later).  In one of the early chapters of the book, she talks about US Presidents who were swimmers, and she talks about the history of the White House swimming pools. 

One of the bucket list items for those of us who live in DC for a long time, is bowling at the Presidential Bowling Lane.  It's so ubiquitous, it has its own Yelp page. I'm fortunate enough to have bowled at the White House twice, but I've never known anyone who's swum at the White House pool.  And given the recent heat and humidity in DC, this is looking particularly great!

Also, did you know that Nixon (who was a big bowler) was the one who turned the old indoor White House pool into the press briefing room? Neither did I. This is what it looked like back in FDR's day (FDR used to swim to alleviate pain from his polio):

Circa 1948

If you want to learn more about the White House swimming pools and their history, I recommend the White House Museum (it's the unofficial virtual museum of the White House).

Have a suggestion for a future post of "To Swim, Perchance to Dream?"  Email me or tweet me with the hashtag #dreampool.