Swimmer in play area has time to return to office (2-5)
I believe the answer is:
re-elect
'return to office' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'swimmer in play area has time' is the wordplay.
'swimmer' becomes 'eel' (eel is a kind of aquatic vertebrate).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'play area' becomes 'rec' (short for recreation ground).
'has' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'eel' going inside 'rec' is 'reelec'.
'reelec'+'t'='RE-ELECT'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for re-elect that I've seen before include "Bring to power again" , "Vote in again" , "Put into power again" .)