Example sentences
tā他huì会yóu游yǒng泳。
He can swim.
xià夏tiān天qù去yóu游yǒng泳。
Go swimming in summer.
About this word
游 is to move through water, 泳 is to swim, originally to travel under the surface. Both characters carry the water radical, so 游泳 is water plus water, two swimming words stacked. The word is separable, which matters in practice: 我每天游泳 is fine, and you can also slide a duration into the middle, 我游了半个小时泳. The second half carries the actual swimming, while the first half is the broader idea of moving through water, which is why 旅游 (travel) uses the same 游 with no water in sight. 游泳池 is the pool.
The story behind the character
游
游 is 氵 (water) with 斿 on the right, which gives the sound and once pictured banner streamers fluttering in wind. Xu Shen described the family as 旌旗之流, the streamers of a banner. Flowing, drifting, going without a fixed aim. Swimming and wandering are one verb in Chinese, and the character shows why.
泳
泳 is 氵 (water) with 永 supplying the sound. Xu Shen's definition is narrower than you'd expect: 潜行水中也, to travel underneath the water. Stroking along the surface needed a different word. 游泳 pairs 泳 with 游, the drifting, moving-about half, and together they cover whatever you do at the pool.