Make progress by crawling perhaps (4)
I believe the answer is:
swim
'make progress' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for swim that I've seen before include "Crawl, say" , "Be immersed" , "Go for a dip" , "To be in the .... is knowing what is going on" , "Travel through water" .)