Former Vice President Joe Biden already has a train station in Wilmington, Delaware, named for him. Now, local officials are making a splash by naming a swimming pool for him.
Gov. John Carney joined Biden and community members on Monday, when the aquatic center at the Brown-Burton Winchester Park was renamed the Joseph R. Biden Sr. Aquatic Center in his honor.
Biden, who lived in nearby Mayfield, worked at the inner-city pool as a teen. It was known then as the Prices Run swimming pool, and Biden was the only white lifeguard working there, according to his 2008 autobiography.
"I was a kid from suburbia," Biden told the audience during the dedication speech. "I wanted to get more involved. And I realized I lived in a neighborhood where I'd turn on the television and I'd see and listen to Dr. [Martin Luther] King and others. But I didn't know any black people. No, I really didn't. And you didn't know any white people, either. That's the truth. So I wanted to work here."
Biden continued: "I owe you all. I owe this neighborhood. I learned so, so much. You've always had my back.... I've always had your back, and I'll always have [it] as long as I'm around."
NBC10's Tim Furlong posted a photo on Twitter of Biden sitting in the lifeguard chair while dressed in a suit. The photo went viral and garnered quirky reactions from users.