I wonder whether the threat of starvation could... gently persuade... dwarves to learn to swim
I did a science on this. Babies do not gain swimming skill until they turn into a child.
Setup, works great with aquifers.
7x7 room.
1 with screw pump to flood it.
1 door, lockable on demand, with grated-channel into aquifer outside for extra drain.
1 lever-linked flood gate into a grated-channel for draining.
Simply get dwarfs in there (military moms) or just burrow alert.
Just need a dwarf to be outside to do the pump water into. 6/7 works great with 1 7/7 moving about.
The swimming skill gains around 3 levels from 0 within a season, approximately 3,000 swim exp.
Edit: yeah, mother with baby results in baby with no swim skill. Child or adult gain swim skill.
Child also starts gaining some endurance, (maybe str and agi) stats.
Edit 2: Found my notes.
Swim Chamber.
Start.
(Child) Ioni Swim Level 0: 80/500. 6th Sandsone, 237, Mid-autumn.
Stats: 555/1811 Str. 989/1992 Agi. 958/2205 Tou. 1963/3908 End. 545/1545 Rec. 1034/2068 Dis.
End.
(Child) Ioni Swim Level 3: 1.9k/2.6k. 19th Sandsone, 237, Mid-autumn.
Stats: 559/1811 Str. 993/1992 Agi. 958/2205 Tou. 1967/3908 End. 545/1545 Rec. 1034/2068 Dis.
Result. 11 days of swimming in 6/7 water.
Strength+4 gain towards max Str stat.
Agility+4 gain towards max Agi stat.
Toughness+4 gain towards max Tou stat.
Endurance+4 gain towrads max End stat.
Recuperation+0, no gain.
Disease Resistance +0, no gain.