A spokeswoman for the Senate gym says women can swim there.
At a recent pro-choice women's luncheon, newly elected U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan said that she recently learned that the Senate gym's pool is "only for the men."
But Eva Malecki, communications officer for the Architect of the Capitol, said there are no rules prohibiting female senators from using any of the facilities in the Senate gym.
"The Senate gym is a co-ed facility for senators," she told Dome. "There are no rules prohibiting women senators from using the pool."
Malecki said the only restriction is that only senators may use the gym. A separate gym in the Dirksen Senate Office Building is open to permanent Senate staffers — of any gender — for $20 a month.
She would not give further information about the senators' gym.
"It's not information that is generally talked about because it is a member-only facility," she said.
Update: Malecki said that Hagan was given bad information by a gym employee.
"Apparently, Senator Hagan was given some misinformation by one of the gym attendants," she said. "The practice of the gym is that the pool is only used by the male senators, but that's not the policy."
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Re: Spokeswoman: No men-only pool in Senate
To clarify: What she was saying was that only male senators currently use the pool. There's nothing stopping the female senators from doing so, but they have chosen not to.
A female friend of mine speculated that some women might feel uncomfortable being seen in a swimsuit by their male colleagues.
— RTB