Swimming
Swimming is an action in Super Smash Bros. Brawl that lets a player swim in water, instead of falling right through it like in its predecessor, Super Smash Bros. Melee. The time in which players can continue to swim is determined by how much damage has been received. The more damage one has accumulated results in shorter time the character can stay afloat before drowning. Every character can swim, but each has a predetermined swim time depending on the character. Some characters, such as Squirtle and King Dedede, have somewhat long swim times, while characters like Charizard, Samus and Sonic have relatively short swim times even at zero percent damage.
One can visually tell how long one has left to swim. When they still have plenty of time left, the character will casually tread water and swim around well. But as time begins to run out, the character will begin to panic, disabling their ability to move through the water.
Swim times are only reset by landing on dry land; simply jumping out of the water momentarily will not give you any extra time (although it will stall the amount of time). The game keeps track of how many times you KO by drowning.
However, even with the worst swimmers at 999% damage, you still have a few seconds before you drown, requiring extreme edge guarding to successfully cause someone to drown on purpose.
Interestingly, Swimming times are unaffected by transformations; a Metal Character can swim just as long as a normal character.
Stages in Brawl that support Swimming
- Delfino Plaza
- The Summit (Swimming too long will cause a fish to eat you)
- Pirate Ship
- Jungle Japes (A swift current will take you off screen if you swim too long)
Incidentally, only Olimar's Blue Pikmin can swim, and the rest will drown if they attempt to follow Olimar into the water. If Wario uses his bike, he will fall right through the water. Letting go of the bike will cause him to swim and his bike to sink.
