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Child, rather cutesy, to swim across the Channel (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tweenager

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'child' is the definition.
(I have seen 'Precocious child' mean 'tweenager' so perhaps 'child' could also mean 'tweenager')

I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.

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(Other definitions for tweenager that I've seen before include "Possibly a ten-year-old" , "adolescent" , "Youngster" , "(Informally) a child approaching the age of 13?" , "Precocious child" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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