means The activity of moving through water using your limbs to stay afloat and propel yourself, whether for sport, survival, or fun.

from From Old English 'swimman,' to move through water by limb power, with cousins across the Germanic family — Old Norse 'svimma,' Old High German 'swimman.' The root carries the sense of gliding or floating, and it has stayed remarkably stable for over a thousand years: humans have always needed a word for not sinking.