A Brief History Of Swimming and the U.S. Presidency

Tuesday, Nov. 5 is Election Day in the United States and the country’s next president will be chosen. In honor of the event, let’s take a walk down memory lane and examine the history of swimming and the U.S. presidency.

The White House has many amenities, including an outdoor swimming pool. But before the outdoor pool was built during Gerald Ford’s presidency, there was an indoor swimming pool installed in 1933. The pool was built for Franklin D. Roosevelt and was installed in 1933. 11 years earlier, Roosevelt had been diagnosed with polio, and The Daily News established the Roosevelt Swimming Pool Fund to raise the money to construct the pool as swimming was one of the only ways that Roosevelt could exercise, according to the White House Historical Association.

“Swimming is the only sport in which he can indulge. It is the one sport which he enjoys to the utmost, which will keep him in perfect physical condition,” said X. The fund reached its goal in two weeks.

Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson all used the indoor pool regularly during their time in office.

Kennedy was a member of the Harvard University swim team. In a 1970 interview with The Harvard Crimson, Harold Ulen, who had been the coach during Kennedy’s years on the team, said he trained Kennedy as a backstroker who “‘compared fairly well with the backstrokers of his day’” and remembered that he would hide in the showers when the Kennedy photographers would come to take pictures of the swimmers. Kennedy is also remembered for his role in a dramatic swim to rescue PT-109 during World War II.

As president, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which among other things, outlawed segregation in businesses as well as public places—like public swimming pools. Public pools in some cities had begun desegregating a decade earlier due to the Brown v. Board of Education decision. However, the following closure of many municipal pools and the creation of private swimming clubs is an unfortunate legacy still felt in American swimming.

Nixon did not regularly use the White House indoor pool and in 1970, the space was converted into the White House Press Room, though the White House Historical Association states it was done in such a way that the pool could easily be restored.

Five years later, private donations funded the White House outdoor pool. Ford, the president at the time, used to swim regularly in his Alexandria pool, and his press secretary quoted Ford saying “’15 minutes in the pool is worth two martinis.’”

Ronald Reagan is well-known for his acting career, but like Kennedy, he swam competitively growing up. He was a member of the Eureka College swim team. Per the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, he worked six summers as a lifeguard and is credited with saving 77 people from drowning. In 1984, he became the first U.S. president to attend the Olympic Opening Ceremony and declare the Games open. (Franklin D. Roosevelt opened the 1932 Winter Games as the governor of New York).

Even presidents not known for their former swimming careers or use of the White House pool have been involved with the sport. The White House did not have a pool when John Quincy Adams was president, but that didn’t stop him from swimming recreationally; when the weather was nice, he would take his talents to the Potomac River.

The sixth president kept a daily diary and often chronicled his swims. “I rise usually between four and five—Walk to Miles, bathe in Potowmack river, and walk home,” he wrote in a July 1818 entry.

While Reagan became the first sitting U.S. president to open the Olympic Games, George W. Bush became the first sitting U.S. president to attend an international Games. He and his father, former president George H.W Bush took photos with members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic swim team including Larsen Jensen and Michael Phelps, who of course won eight gold medals at those Games in Beijing. He also signed the first federal pool and spa safety legislation, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act.

Finally, many Olympic and Paralympic swimmers have been welcomed to the White House to celebrate their achievements. The White House Historical Association marks a June 1924 visit from the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team as the first time Olympians visited the White House. Calvin Coolidge was president at the time. In 1964, a larger group of approximately 100 U.S. Olympic medal winners attended a luncheon at the White House, one of the first larger-scale visits from Olympians. George H.W Bush held a ceremony on the South Lawn for the 1992 Olympians, similar to the celebrations we’ve seen in recent years.

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KSW
16 days ago

Im voting for Grant House

Sapiens Ursus
Reply to  KSW
16 days ago

Probably cares about as much about the plight of the average college student as much as either major party candidate if we’re being totally honest.

(Read the limits to growth. The “left” candidate supports fracking while the artic melts like never before…. yeah we’re doomed anyway it was nice while it lasted…)

Grant House anti-fan club
Reply to  Sapiens Ursus
16 days ago

Neither party wants to raise taxes, both parties want to spend more money, and the national debt has exceeded our ability to pay it off. At least the Democrats are kind of sticking to their mantra, it just doesn’t work when the opposite side of the pendulum has been plunged into borderline lunacy.

My swimswam-commenter-schizophrenic-hot-take is that we could probably escape this if our voter base collectively decided to stop being amateur political scientists and vote directly for their favorite candidate, rather than voting for “a party that will actually win” (having candidates that are more moderate than RFK and Jill Stein would also help). Political candidates seem to be money-locked from competing if they’re 3rd party, which is ironic… Read more »

Truth
Reply to  Grant House anti-fan club
16 days ago

Well the leader of the “other side of the pendulum” said that he’d make sure 2024 was the last election and that he wished he had generals like Hitler… so if you want that 3rd party future please vote accordingly tomorrow 🥲

Awsi Dooger
Reply to  Grant House anti-fan club
16 days ago

Borderline?

Viking Steve
16 days ago

Well researched and written!

Oldmanswimmer
16 days ago

I was a lifeguard for 8 years and I find it very hard to believe that stat about Reagan’s rescues.

Lifeguard
Reply to  Oldmanswimmer
16 days ago

Also guarded, depends on the setting. 4 summers at a private lake expensive swim club, 2 rescues. 4 summers on a public ocean beach and it would be a rare day to not be pulling someone out of the water

RealCrocker5040
16 days ago

VOTE BLUE 2024

Scuncan Dott v2
Reply to  RealCrocker5040
16 days ago

Those 28 downvotes are worrying

4 kick pullout
Reply to  Scuncan Dott v2
15 days ago

Swimming is a (mostly) white conservative sport. Honestly seeing 63/53 down vs up votes as I type this out is better than I would have thought.

cynthia curran
16 days ago

Kennedy sister Rosemary was an excellent swimmer and the special olympics was created because how well Roemary swam before the lobomony. It was a way to do sport to special needs olympic particpants in different sports.

James Beam
16 days ago

great article here about the white house pools:
https://www.whitehousehistory.org/a-pool-for-the-president

About Sophie Kaufman

Sophie Kaufman

Sophie grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, which means yes, she does root for the Bruins, but try not to hold that against her. At 9, she joined her local club team because her best friend convinced her it would be fun. Shoulder surgery ended her competitive swimming days long ago, …

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