Crossword Genius

Coming up, mouths moved through the water (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

swam

'moved through the water' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'coming up mouths' is the wordplay.
'coming up' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters go up).
'mouths' becomes 'maws' (maw is a kind of mouth).
'maws' written backwards gives 'SWAM'.

(Other definitions for swam that I've seen before include "Travelled through water" , "Moved through water" , "Did butterfly perhaps" , "was dizzy" , "Splashed around" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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