Began swimming in lush American lake (9)

I believe the answer is:

winnebago

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'american lake' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'began swimming in lush' is the wordplay.
'swimming' indicates anagramming the letters (letters swim around into a new order).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'lush' becomes 'wino' (I've seen this before).
'began' anagrammed gives 'nebag'.
'nebag' put inside 'wino' is 'WINNEBAGO'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for winnebago that I've seen before include "Native American" , "camper van" , "Brave" , "Indian" , "Popular US motor home manufacturer" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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