I must have been the only other one that remembered that commercial or didn’t think it was special effects. It was for diet coke I think and very imaginative and well done. A woman is lounging on a big float as the elephant swims near. It deposits a trunkfull of peanuts in exchange for the can of soda it swipes and swims away.
From yabob’s posted site above, the chimps hands might not be positionable for wimming either.
They can swim just fine. Unfortunately, like white men, they can’t jump.
LOL! Is there any cruise ship that is lighter than an elephant? 
(Wow, they really swim. Man, you learn the most amazing facts on this board.)
Well, of course they swim! How else could they get to Tahiti?
(The question is: How well do they surf?)
'Fraid not, Chronos. The closest living relative to the two species of elephant is the hyrax. Seen this on a NG special on elephants and their brain structures, as well as a number of other sources.