State university team performing in swimming contest (9)
I believe the answer is:
guatemala
'state' is the definition.
(I know that Guatemala is a Central American country)
'university team performing in swimming contest' is the wordplay.
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation for university).
'performing' indicates an anagram (the letters move around or 'perform').
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'swimming contest' becomes 'gala' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'u'+'team'='uteam'
'uteam' anagrammed gives 'uatem'.
'uatem' placed within 'gala' is 'GUATEMALA'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for guatemala that I've seen before include "Central American state" , "Spanish-speaking country in Central America" , "Latin American place" , "Central American country" , "country south of the USA" .)