When a player swims within 16 blocks of the world border on an old word type - specifically on the positive x and z axis sides of the world - and attempts to swim out of the water without flying or using slabs, the player cannot jump out of the water and onto the block in front of them until they move 17 or more blocks away from the world edge. This does not happen on the negative x and z axis sides of the world, however.
I've been experiencing the same issue and it really gets annoying. It also stops players from walking up and down stairs and slabs properly, until they've gone past the same 16 block area.