Woodrow Wilson Aquatic Center

This is a fantastic facility with attentive lifeguards to ensure your safety. It serves not only those who want to swim laps but there is pool that you can use for walking or doing exercises. This feature is especially nice if you have had an injury and need to do exercises in the water to help recovey. The children’s pool is huge and the hot tub spectacular. The changing rooms and bathrooms are clean as can be and there is even a swimsuit spinner in the changing room that takes the excess water out of your suit after swimming.

Love it. I would gladly pay to use this pool. The facilities are in great shape, the locker room is acceptable, and the proximity to metro make this place hard to beat.
Typically its configured for 50 meter laps, which is great for long swims (less flip turns). Can get crowded after 5:30, but that’s a minor inconvenience. When its set for 25 meters, you can sometimes get a lane to yourself. Some staff at the front desk can seem disinterested at best, but the place is free and you only have to deal with them for like 8 seconds while you sign in and let them check your ID.
Haven’t used the hot tub, but its large.

I have to concur about the rude, intimidating, unkind, abrasive staff. The woman at the front desk almost made us return home, as my id was an expired DC license (not sure how an old one got in my bag?). My husband and two-​year-​old son were going to go in without me, but as we fumbled between us to get the kid and towels and bag all set she said «go in!» First timers, we stumbled around following «pool this way» signs but having to look around like tourists to get to the family dressing room and then the pool. Staff in the pool seemed attentive though shrill whistles with no verbal explanation of what was being called out got annoying and then ignored. We will possibly go again, and I will bring my most glowing smile and brace for the barrage of anger and meaness to hit me in the face. Way to go sub-​par staff … You must know who you are by now, step it up!

Gorgeous new pool with a separate section for kids and adults. Lots of swim lanes for lap swimming. Shiny and sparkling clean.
Parking was horrible though, but I’ve only been there on Saturdays. It took us a good 20 mins to find a spot, but it could be better on week days.
Also the kiddie pool was very crowded. I guess that is what happens when you have a free pool that is beautiful.

Visited on a Saturday around 11am. The check-​in process was smooth. All lanes were labeled fast/​medium/​slow etc and had 2 – 3 swimmers when I arrived. I joined a lane with 2 swimmers and circle swam with no problem for most of my workout. A slower swimmer joined toward the end and messed up my flow, but that’s not DCPR’s fault!
The locker room is big and was clean. Lots of children/​families on a Saturday morning. Used my own lock and had no security problems.

This is an amazing 50 meter pool with a kiddie pool and giant hot tub that is all free to DC residents! This is the best pool in DC, but note the usual DC rules in that you can’t take indoor photography, the lanes are sometimes in 25 yard conformation, and the lockerrooms have a LOT of traffic and can get dirty. Don’t forget to bring your license or you can’t get in at all, even if you pay. If you aren’t from DC it’s $ 5 to use the pool.

i love this place for its size (50m lanes, yay!) and cleanliness. it seems many others do too, b/​c it’s sometimes so crowded that there’s a considerable wait to get in a lane — and even then, you’ll be sharing with 2, 3, or more other swimmers. i guess that works for some, but for me it’s annoying at best, and takes away the joy of doing nice long 50m laps.
(every time i’ve gone has been a weekday evening, between 4−7pm, so maybe it’s different at other times.)
the lanes are marked for speed to make sharing easier — slow, medium, or fast. don’t be ambitious; stay in your speed-​appropriate lane or you’ll get your feelings hurt/​piss off other swimmers. more than half of the rest of the lanes seem to always be reserved for & occupied by swim teams practicing or classes taking place. there’s a separate pool for children, which makes for a much better experience than many other pools. there’s also a large, wonderful hot tub [for adults only].
basics:
–locker rooms are bring-​you-​own locks; they do not have rentals.
–staff is mostly nice, with a couple of scrooges/​clueless ones.
–facility is FREE for DC residents; $ 7/​visit (i think) for nonresidents.
–bring a government-​issued picture ID for entry
–showers are clean but older, and have annoying water-​save nozzles that shut off every 90 seconds or so.
NOTE: apparently there is a significant theft problem here. i’ve never had anything taken, but several people have.

Such a gem… I’ve been a competitive swimmer my entire life and dealt with some really awful pools, and the Wilson facility is gorgeous, clean, and well-​managed. The pool itself is beautiful and kept at an adequate temperature and chlorine level (unlike most DC indoor pools), the locker rooms are huge and well maintained, and the staff are friendly. I love that the pool is long course every other day, making it perfect for getting a nice long workout in. I’ve never had to share a lane with more than two other people, which is completely reasonable for 50 meter lanes. I’m baffled by how anyone can give less than five stars to such a fantastic, professional-​level facility that is FREE to DC residents.

I was here in in the summer, so perhaps that explains why it was ‘empty’ and i had
my own lane and a great experience. I LOVE 50 meter pools and when you’re traveling, they really do give you a place to regain whatever sanity you have.
Compares favorably with Asphalt Green in NYC and is cheaper! High
ratio of guards to swimmers and I would not miss going again when I am back in DC.
City run pool, the price was better than ‘cheap’

As a newcomer to the area, I’ve been looking for indoor lap pools and have been disappointed each and every time. For some bizarre reason, the pools here are kept too warm for lap swimming — at 84 °F or higher. That’s a no-​no.
So what a nice surprise it was to find the Wilson Aquatic Center’s pool temperature set at 81 °F. I checked the gauge myself, after asking the lifeguard about it. While I prefer pools set at 80 °F, I really can’t complain too much about 81 °F, given how warm most pools are in the area.
The pool here is really top-​class. The lanes are set at 50 meters on a Sunday, and there are 8 lanes. I’ve actually never swum in a pool at 50 meters, only the usual 25 yards. Jumped right in, and then realized that the pool depth quickly descends to 13 feet. Panic attack set in, and I began to breathe in water. See, I have a tremendous fear of deep water pools, and hadn’t paid any attention to the pool depth. For this reason, I will likely not come back here, or at least until I conquer this fear.
If you want a nice swimming pool to do laps, by all means come here. It looked like there were 3 to 4 swimmers per lane, but with each lane set at 50 meters, and theoretically by swim speed, crowding wasn’t an issue.
The showers were annoying, though. Push the button, get maybe 10 seconds of water, then push again and repeat. Saves water, but annoying. I paid $ 7 to get in, since I’m not a DC resident — boo!

The Wilson pool is a fantastic resource. My break-​down is as follows:
Gorgeous, enormous pool; they set it up as 50 meters on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and over the weekends. This is fantastic for those of us who yearn for a 50-​meter length. They also separate the tot/​family pool, which keeps the lap swimming pool much cleaner (for obvious reasons).
Locker rooms are big, but get crowded during peak hours and on weekends.
Showers are evidently designed to reduce usage/​conserve water, and subsequently turn on for only a few seconds at a time; this is incredibly annoying, but I assume effective in reducing costs.
The pool is split up based on swimming speed (slow to very fast). This is slightly hilarious, because, on any given day, at any given hour, there are loads of incredibly old guys, swimming at a snail’s pace, in the «fast» and «very fast» lanes. It goes without saying that if you are collecting Medicare, you should probably stick with the «medium» or «slow» lanes.
Bottom line: it’s a beautiful facility, free for DC residents, and well-​run. Just take the designated lane speeds with a grain of salt.

I’m sorry — this place is nothing short of incredible. Sparkling facility and it is FREE for DC residents. 50m lanes with open swim every day of the week barring Tuesday and Thursday, which are 25m. Saturday is a split between 25 and 50.
It get get busy in the evenings, but it has never been so busy that I couldn’t fit in a lane. If you are not that serious, you can still swim here! There are lanes for every speed. I would highly recommend that you stick to your speed though because the fast lanes can get quite intense, and the serious swimmers don’t like it when you hold them up!

This place is a heaven for any swimmer, regardless of his/​her skills and abilities. It’s pretty clean and wide (50m). At times it can get crowded and in spite of separated speed lines, folks at times end up being in the wrong lane :-) but overall one manages.
Afterwards, the whirlpool is really nice and bubbly and a great place to relax. The staff, with few exceptions, is friendly.
Make sure to bring your lock and don’t be surprised if the showers don’t work due to low water pressure!
Overall, a great place to swim, which I would highly recommend.

I I’ve this place, free for dc residence. Plenty of swimming (dunking) room. The place is forever clean, the lockers are stocked and well maintained. The staff is nice to everyone, I always enjoy my time there. The only thing is that bites is class times for learning to swim. Weves.

Caveat: the facility itself gets 5 stars.
The 1-​star review is for the staff. I’m there for a swim class with my child and apparently we’re in violation of some arcane pool rule every time we walk in – and someone is always more than happy to point it out to us. An earlier reviewer used the word «harass» and at this point I don’t feel like that’s too strong a word. I get having rules, but for crying out loud when you have 70 or 80 of them, maybe the people who unknowingly break them aren’t the problem, ya think?
The front desk staff do NOT look happy, welcoming or inviting and could use some remedial training in customer service. No wait, scratch that: they could use pink slips, because I’m sure there are other people more than willing to do the same job with a much better demeanor.

Plenty of lanes with an occasional weird dude in a speedo who wants to talk. I wish more people would use the «medium» speed, though: I’m truly slow (but not as slow as the seniors who are doing water walking) and I feel pressure to swim faster than is comfortable sometimes.
The whirlpool afterwards is miraculous for sore muscles. Overall, well maintained. The weak spot? Showers are generally warm but no pressure and not the cleanest.
Bring a lock! They don’t let you put your bag on the deck for safe keeping, and I guess there is significant theft, if you believe all of the signage.

In San Francisco used to pay close to $ 70 to swim at the YMCA and I can’t believe this center is free and even more amazing than the Y!
We tried it for the first time
on a Sunday afternoon and I found the locker room to be clean with plenty of empty lockers. There were a lot of people enjoying the pool area, but even so we found that we have a ton of space to swim. I love that they divide the lanes by speed and even leave one lane open for leisure swim. I will definitely be swimming here on a regular basis!

Wow! an olympic sized 25*50meter indoor pool kept immaculately clean in a nice, sunny facility. Lanes are designated as slow, medium, and fast, so choose wisely. There is also a hot tub and a kids’ pool here. It’s free for DC residents and $ 7 for visitors. If you need to pay, bring a credit card as this is (yes, unbelievable) a no-​cash facility (I’d guess to prevent theft). The signage and locker-​room setup is less impressive. But, still, rather amazing for a city pool.

One fantastic benefit of living in DC is the access to numerous free public pools. Funded through tax payers dollars, the Woodrow Wilson Aquatic Center offers an olympic size, in-​door lap pool as well as a large hot tub and baby pool. The aquatic center is open year round, seven days per week with long hours of access to the public each day.
I highly recommend checking out this pool especially if you have little kids. There are two basketball hoops and large buckets that dump water into the baby pool. Also, sun exposure isn’t an issue because the pool is located indoors.

My dear God. I can only imagine spoody New York City spa/​health club combinations having nicer pools. Granted, I know it’s really new and, therefore, quite clean, but, hey, it’s Upper Northwest: they’re gonna keep it spotless for years to come.
Bathrooms so clean you could eat off the floor. God only knows why you’d want to do such a thing, but it’s a pretty sanitary place, so I doubt you’d get hepatitis as a result of your weirdness. Showers that worked amazingly and didn’t have hair all up in the drains. The only downside is that you can’t control the temperature (though the water comes out quite warm) and you have to keep pressing the button if you plan to stay in the shower longer than 30 seconds. But that’s okay.
The actual pool is great. Since I’m still learning how to swim, I stuck to the smaller, more child-​populated pool (but got a whole lane to myself!). The water was so warm! Which I pray was not from all 50 kids pissing in it at the same time, but even if that had been the case, there is so much chlorine in the water, it must still be clean enough to drink. That said, beware that this water will (a) sting the rubbish out of your eyes if you don’t wear goggles and (b) bubble up something terrible if you splash or lap too quickly. (But it’s a great place for kids, with splash buckets spewing and things.)
The lifeguards look qualified and didn’t bother anyone. And there are a TON of floating practicing thingies, like kickboards, spongy things, and those spongy things that look like weights, so it’s divine for beginners like me to come here and practice.
And it’s free for DC residents! I’m going to milk this place like a cow for the next six months. I’ll be sad to say goodbye to DC if I have to lose Wilson as a perk.