Water is deadly to those who aren’t prepared for it. Here are some standard water hazards and how often a character must make a Swimming roll, with each failure adding a Fatigue level.

• A character with at least a d4 in Swimming does not have to roll when in calm water.
• In rough water, all characters must make a Swimming roll every minute.
• In white water, the hero is swept into eddies and whirlpools (hydraulics) and rolls every round.
• A hero forced to tread water for long periods without a flotation device must roll once every hour.

Modifiers: Subtract –2 from a hero's Swimming rolls if he is trying to hold something up, including another character. Add 2 to the roll if he’s wearing a life vest.

• Recovery: Once a character is out of the water, he recovers one Fatigue level every five minutes.
• Incapacitation Effects: Death in a number of rounds equal to half the victim’s Vigor die. If someone can get to the victim within five minutes of “death,” he can be resuscitated with a Healing roll at -4.

Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition p. 100