Meaning
A swimmer — the Patois pronunciation of 'swimmer', with the everyday r-to-a shift (as in 'wata' for water). On an island ringed by the sea and threaded with rivers, being a strong 'swimma' matters, and children learn to swim young at the river hole or the beach, so that a good swimma is well regarded. The word does the plain work of naming one who swims, in the worn-down form Jamaican speech gives it, and it belongs to the whole life of the water — the sea, the river, and the swimming that is second nature to so many.
Examples
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Him a strong swimma, him cross di river easy.
He's a strong swimmer, he crosses the river easily.
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Learn fi swim before yuh go a deep water.
Learn to swim before you go in deep water.
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Di best swimma win di race a di beach.
The best swimmer won the race at the beach.
Origin
The Patois pronunciation of 'swimmer' (final 'r' vocalised to 'a').
How it’s used
A swimmer; illustrates the r→a shift. See 'sea', and the proverb 'stranger nuh know where di deep water deh'.