History Main / SuperSwimmingSkills

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Every playable character is capable of swimming (and diving), with most of them having the very similar performance output. While the gender and stature of the character has slight influences, they advantages are mostly so trivial that it doesn't affect the player's experience all that much. By contrast, most NPC enemies have SuperDrowningSkills.

* ''Film/{{Mermaids}}'' has Kate Flax who actually wants to be an Olympic swimmer. She can already swim astoundingly well for a kid of her age [[spoiler:unless she's drunk]].

Compare SuperNotDrowningSkills for holding your breath indefinitely, which is often a SisterTrope to this one; if a character has one, they'll probably have the other one as well. Contrast SuperDrowningSkills and HazardousWater. See also WaterIsAir.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': How Annie Cresta won her games, outswimming the other tributes. Justified, as she lived in the district responsible for fishing and would have grown up being taught relevant trade skills like swimming.

Compare SuperNotDrowningSkills for holding your breath indefinitely, which is often a SisterTrope to this one; if a character has one, they'll prpbably have the other one as well. Contrast SuperDrowningSkills and HazardousWater. See also WaterIsAir.

Compare SuperNotDrowningSkills for holding your breath indefinitely, which is often a SisterTrope to this one. Contrast SuperDrowningSkills and HazardousWater. See also WaterIsAir.

* In the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series, starting with the second game, the player character always has perfect swimming skills: never gets tired and never sinks no matter how much armor he or she is wearing. In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'', the player can also swim in icy-cold water without suffering hypothermia or frostbite, though this wasn't the case in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue''. There is a concession to realism in that you can only hold your breath underwater for a certain amount of time (in gameplay this grants total concealment from enemies) before having to come up for air. All other characters in the series have SuperDrowningSkills, until ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag''.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime'': [[SuperDrowningSkills In contrast to]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates the previous game]], the hero and whatever allies s/he picks up can swim indefinitely regardless of whatever heavy armor and weaponry they have equipped (one dungeon is ''entirely'' swum). They can also dive, and though they swim back up immediately, the player can just keep hitting the dive button over and over to keep them underwater with no ill effects.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''

* Both ''VideoGame/{{Everquest}}'' and ''VideoGame/EverquestII'' have a breath mechanism, but beyond that swimming is just another movement mechanic. Both games have a Swimming skill but its only effect on the game is how fast you move when swimming. You can swim in any water forever without tiring or freezing, you can tread water forever and if you have any item or spell that eliminates the breath meter (underwater breathing or a Fishbone Earring or whatever) you can swim forever if you care to do it. In Everquest II you can swim from one continent to another if you have the time (zone edge mechanics block this behavior in Everquest).

** Averted in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' where there's no underwater swimming and surface swimming is limited by a stamina meter. Because the former game is set on an ocean, this was done to prevent the player from traveling between the islands without the boat. The latter game zig zags when it comes to the Zora Armor; it only slightly increases your swimming speed, but it also gives you the ability to swim straight up waterfalls rapidly. It's also somewhat ironic, since the Link from ''Breath of the Wild'' grew up around a lot of ''[[FishPeople Zoras]]'', and yet is a far worse swimmer than the Links from the above mentioned games, whose only exposure to large bodies of water would have been small rivers and ponds.

* ''Videogame/{{Subnautica}}:'' For someone whose role was essentially head janitor, the protagonist can certainly handle himself like a pro underwater. While lung capacity isn't that hot without proper breathing tanks, he never, ''ever'' gets tired even if he has to swim literal miles.
* Played painfully straight in ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}},'' which introduced swimming mechanics in Chapter 2. Suddenly, everyone can effortlessly swim on and underneath water for as long as they like, even against rushing currents and over waterfalls.

* ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Mera}}'' can both swim at incredible speeds.
* In ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', Korinna swims at an incredible pace and seems to be able to hold her breath for incredible amounts of time.

Compare SuperNotDrowningSkills for holding your breath indefinitely. Contrast SuperDrowningSkills and HazardousWater. See also WaterIsAir.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'': The titular Mario and Luigi. Apart from their SuperNotDrowningSkills, they've actually managed to out-swim ''torpedoes'' and can dash through the water in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' by spinning, using their arms as propeller blades. Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'', where Luigi points out that Mario can swim better than most fish. Sometimes other characters are this, as well, but not very often, and certainly never quite as swift as the Bros.

** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'': Niko can't dive, but he swims like a dolphin: he can easily swim-crawl across the entire map, one end to the other, without tiring out like [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas CJ]]. This is acknowledged in-story, too, as Niko had to swim from a sinking ship in the Adriatic Sea all the way to the shore.

Then there's also the fact that in many video games, characters can swim and tread water for indefinite amounts of time without getting tired. In RealLife, swimming exerts a great amount of physical strength and energy, and gets very, very exhausting after some time, even for Olympic Swimmers. Of course, they're also capable of walking for hundreds of miles on dry land without a break either...

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' allows the player to swim indefinitely and never grow tired the first time they ever jump in the water.

Then there's also the fact that in many video games, characters can swim and tread water for indefinite amounts of time without getting tired. In RealLife, swimming exerts a great amount of physical strength and energy, and gets very, very exhausting after some time, even for Olympic Swimmers (the namesake of this trope). Of course, they're also capable of walking for hundreds of miles on dry land without a break either...

This may be a somewhat AcceptableBreakFromReality, however. If characters in video games had even remotely realistic swimming skills, it would take a lot of fun out of exploring {{underwater ruins}} and such, and not to mention it would be extremely aggravating for players.

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