War Memorial Natatorium

This guide to the War Memorial Natatorium in Honolulu opens on August 24, 1927, when more than seven thousand people packed the bleachers to watch Olympic gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku take the first swim in a brand-new saltwater pool carved into the reef. It traces why the pool was built as a living memorial to the Hawaiians who served and died in the First World War, and the swimmers, from Johnny Weissmuller to Esther Williams, who trained here in the decades after. Generations of Honolulu schoolkids learned to swim in seawater piped straight from the Pacific beneath your feet.