Drowning remains a relic that is out of depth compared to other mechanics in a couple situations. One of the most notable is the ability to break boats, or hitbox block swimmers, and cause a very rapid and unexpected pvp death for inexperienced players. Being Koed by animals on deep water is also surprising, and makes some beaver dungeons incredibly dangerous due to escape paths having deep water on them. Asphyxiation wounds instead of instant death was an appreciated first step to bringing drowning in line with the wound system, but these situations aren't fully covered by it.
To finish adjusting the current game mechanics, a cap on asphyxiation damage dealt per "swimming mistake" could be implemented, with an additional wound (pneumonia?) dealt to mimic KO mechanics from combat if someone reaches the cap. When a character "finishes" drowning (there should still be an opportunity to loot their gear for pvpers), slipping below the water and appearing unconscious on your hearth fire fits current gameworld mechanics. It would still be possible to die if you have other wounds accumulated, and the severity of the impact could be tuned by the total asphyxiation cap (either % or a flat number) and how the pneumonia wound works. If oceans should be more "serious" either a higher asphyxiation cap or a different "ko" wound could be applied.
I'm aware some people will dislike this minor inconvenience in killing hermits, my apologies.