We got the pet swimming in the sea - and it climbs (8)

I believe the answer is:

sweetpea

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'it climbs' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'we got the pet swimming in the sea' is the wordplay.
'got' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'swimming' indicates an anagram (letters swim around into a new order).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'we'+'pet'='wepet'
'wepet' anagrammed gives 'weetp'.
'weetp' put inside 'sea' is 'SWEETPEA'.

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sweetpea that I've seen before include "climbing plant" , "climber" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.