Lol as title sais, me and kkg22104 were msn-ing and we were wondering if ed could swim with automail, we never seen him swimming in the manga and im curious! It kinda ammuses me that ed is all badass but may not be able to swim XD and also may share roy's weakness of water lololol thoughts?

Well, Edward cannot swim, I don't think. Possibly due to him never learning, and perhaps because his automail weighs him down and tends to rust.

Hmmm well, he can shower, that much we know from the anime and the manga, so I don't think his automail rusts, but I don't know, maybe he would sink because of the weight...

I think that the weight of his automail will cause Ed to sink. And that is why we never see him swimming. Al can't swim or else his blood seal will wash away. Whether Ed or Al learned to swim before they tried transmuting their mother is unknown. But I doubt they did learn. Because Risembool looks like there are only grassy areas and not much water.

It didn't even show in the manga when they were trying to survive Izumi's test. All I could remember was Ed caught a fish after he washed his face. The water is not even reaching his knees (I think)

I've thought about this too. I don't think he could but in Brotherhood in episode 18 he does jump in a fountain and dunks his whole body under. Secondly, in the manga Winry says at that she hopes he's taking a nice warm bath somewhere also when she is taking a bath. So I guess taking a bath is ok for him, but I think swimming would be difficult. Maybe if his arm and leg were made out of composite he'd be better off.

lololol doesnt this mean water>fire>steal so therefore issac>roy>edward lulz XD I never thought that they wouldnt have learnt how to swim, but i guess thats very possible, considering the area they were raised in, im sure when izumi is taking ed and al to the island she sais they're going swimming or something because its hot XD whether swimming to the elrics actually means padderling or proper swimming guess we dont know XD

The iron/steel automail, yes. What about the automail he gets at Briggs? I can't remember what it's made of, just that it's lighter...

In FMA1 at least, he can't swim.

And, naturally, it would be very odd if he indeed could swim, as both his leg and arm would definitely weigh him down. Whether the automail is rust-resistent or not; I don't think that has anything to do with the question if he is able to swim. It'd just be a matter of how well he takes care of his 'machinery'.

And if he can swim wearing the Briggs automail, well, I guess it's debatable. But I still don't see Ed keeping his head above the surface, not before getting his real body back anyway ^^

And, I think it's possible that both Ed and Al learned to swim before the accident; there's at least a few streams and small rivers in the area of Resembool, as evident in some of the anime(s) episodes. I remember in particular one part from FMA1 where we're told how Ed would always find Al by the bank of the river after they'd had a fight. But again, that's anime material.

But there's also THIS page from the manga.

What if he transmutes some fins & flippers on? 8D

@Broken Chouchou

I was thinking of that exact same page XD. Yeah, if Ed got knocked into the river, he must have known how to swim to be able to get out of it ^^.

The automail he gets at Briggs isn't made out of steel either, so it probably wouldn't weigh him down so much, so he probably can swim .

*imagines Ed with floaties and an inner tube*

In the new game at the pool scene, Ed is talking to Roy outside of the pool and he points to his automail. It looks to me he's telling Roy that's why he's not swimming.

In the conqueror of shamballa, Ed blows up Huskisins castle, and he looks pretty scared that the boat they made is filling up with water. I do not know though, I guess if your boat was filling up with water, being able to swim or not, it still would be a little scary. He also was trying to help Al stay out of the water so his seal did not come off.

no cause in Fullmetal Alchemist Conquerer of Shamballa.. Edward and Al were sinking but none of them could swim so yeah.. that shows it...