What is the current status of the White House swimming pool?
Executive summary
The White House today effectively has two historic pools: an outdoor pool installed by President Gerald Ford that remains on the grounds and an older indoor pool installed for Franklin D. Roosevelt that is covered over and repurposed beneath the West Wing press briefing room; the indoor pool is no longer used for swimming and has been converted to other functions, while the outdoor pool is the one most associated with presidential recreation [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and institutional histories describe the indoor pool as physically still present beneath the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room but covered and adapted, and the outdoor Ford-era pool as the active swimming facility on the grounds [2] [4] [1].
1. The hidden indoor pool: under the press briefing room and repurposed
The original White House indoor pool, built in 1933 for Franklin D. Roosevelt, still exists structurally beneath the West Wing but was covered in 1969 when President Richard Nixon converted the space to accommodate the growing press corps; contemporary histories state the pool remains beneath the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room though it is no longer used for swimming [2] [3]. Multiple accounts go further, describing the former pool area as having been converted into operational space for the White House—sources identify the old pool’s footprint now under the press room and report it has been adapted for modern needs such as server space or other back-of-house functions, and is occasionally referenced on tours and in staff recollections [4] [5]. That narrative is consistent across institutional histories and reporting, but specifics about current technical use (which servers, how often the space is accessed) are not detailed in the provided reporting, so the characterization must rely on those secondary descriptions [2] [4] [5].
2. The outdoor Ford pool: the active presidential pool on the grounds
President Gerald R. Ford commissioned the outdoor pool in 1975 to meet his personal fitness needs, and institutional summaries and news pieces identify that outdoor pool as the present-day recreational pool on the White House grounds; reporting notes Ford’s advocacy for a pool, the private financing of the project, and that he used the completed outdoor pool for exercise shortly after installation [1] [3] [6]. Contemporary profiles that guide public curiosity about White House amenities point visitors and readers to that outdoor pool when explaining where a president would swim today, and journalists describe it as a “rarely seen” but extant feature of the grounds rather than a ceremonial relic [1].
3. How sources frame “status” and where narratives diverge
Official historical associations and mainstream reporting converge on two basic facts—the indoor pool remains under the press room and is covered, and the outdoor Ford pool exists and is the on-site swimming facility—but they differ in tone and emphasis: institutional histories emphasize continuity and architectural adaptation (the pool “remains beneath” the press center) while some popular or commercial write‑ups stress novelty or secrecy (calling the indoor pool “hidden” or a “secret” server room) and can hyperbolize its current uses [2] [3] [5]. The more sensational accounts often add color—signatures on walls, occasional tour stops—but those details are not uniformly corroborated by the White House Historical Association or the press‑room histories, so they should be treated as anecdotal or secondary unless independently verified [5] [4].
4. What can and cannot be confirmed from available reporting
Available, reputable reporting and institutional summaries firmly support that the White House no longer uses the 1933 indoor pool for swimming and that its footprint is under the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, and that Gerald Ford’s outdoor pool remains the active outdoor facility on the grounds [2] [4] [1] [3]. What the sources do not provide in full technical detail—at least in the provided reporting—is a real‑time inventory of exactly how the indoor pool cavity is outfitted today (specific server models, access protocols, or a definitive White House engineering log), nor do they furnish a day‑to‑day usage log for the outdoor pool; those operational granularities are not covered in the cited material and would require direct White House facilities reporting or release [4] [5] [2].
5. Bottom line: practical status for readers
Practically speaking, the White House’s swimable pool for presidents and guests today is the outdoor Ford pool on the grounds; the older indoor pool exists only as a covered, repurposed structure beneath the press briefing room and is not a functioning swimming facility, with credible sources describing it as converted into press and technological space [1] [2] [4]. Readers should be wary of sensational summaries that claim secret underground water features in active use—historical and institutional sources point to adaptation, not continued aquatic function [2] [5].