Swimming and Presidents

Several presidents of the United States were/are swimmers.

John Quincy Adams was the first president that was known to enjoy swimming. Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama all enjoyed swimming.

Franklin D. Roosevelt built an indoor pool in the White House, and swam frequently. Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson all swam in that pool during their presidencies. President Richard Nixon built a press room over the pool. The pool is still there, under the floor of the press room. When Gerald Ford became president, he built a new outdoor pool at the White House, and swam almost every day.

President Kennedy and President Regan were both lifeguards and competitive swimmers. Both of them swam for their college teams. President Regan even coached his college team after his coach became ill during the season.

President Trump isn’t keen on swimming. He loves to golf. When he was in school he played both football and baseball.