He owed his survival to his strength as a swimmer...是什么意思？

He owed his survival to his strength as a swimmer...

他是因为水性好才幸免于难的。

he

pron. 他，它，一个人；n. 雄性动物；

例句
Logic had prevailed and he had abandoned the idea.
最终理智占了上风，他打消了那个念头。

owed

v. 感激( owe的过去式和过去分词 )，应把…归功于，欠…债，（对位高权重者）忠诚；

例句
I owed £5,000 — part of this was accrued interest...
我欠款5,000英镑，其中一部分是累计的利息。

his

pron. (he的所有格)他的，(he的物主代词)他的东西；det. 属于他的，用于名词前，自己的，指某人的，上帝的；

例句
He claimed that his parents had abandoned him...
他声称父母遗弃了他。

survival

n. 幸存，生存，幸存者，遗物，遗风；

例句
For the first time since creation, the survival of the Earth is entirely in our hands.
自宇宙形成以来，地球的存亡第一次完全掌握在我们手中。

to

prep. 向，朝着，到，关于，属于；adv. 朝一个方向的，到某种状态，关闭；

例句
I suggest you leave it to an expert...
我建议你把它留给专家来解决。

strength

n. 力量，优点，长处，（光、声、色等的）力度，人力[数]；

例句
Roland was taken aback by our strength of feeling...
我们反应如此强烈，令罗兰大吃一惊。

as

adv. 同样地，一样地，例如；prep. 作为，以…的身份，如

例句
As far as I can recall, Patti was a Smith.
我记得帕蒂是姓史密斯的。

swimmer

n. 游泳者；

例句
These myriads of fish would be enough to keep any swimmer entranced for hours.
这些不同种类的鱼足以让任何一个游泳者数小时流连忘返。