Cryptic crossword clue
Swimmer displaying roughness if disturbed 11

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 11 letter word SURGEONFISH

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Swimmer" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case swimmer = surgeonfish.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does SURGEONFISH mean?

SURGEONFISH noun
  1. Any of many species of reef-dwelling fishes, most of them brightly coloured, of the family Acanthuridae. They are named "surgeonfish" because they bear erectile, scalpel-like, dangerously sharp spines on either side of the caudal peduncle.

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