Player position within realm lags significantly

Ever since switching to 1.18 in our realm, it's as if there's a lag between moving between locations and actually being able to do anything in that new location.

Example:

I decide to swim across a river in order to open a chest. Here's what happens:

1. I walk down a cliff and jump down a few levels onto grass

2. I make my character swim across the river (6 blocks long)

3. I get to the other side and attempt to open my chest but am unable to interact with the object

   • During this time, I see passive mobs walking around me without issue and the day/night cycle continues as normal

4. 30 seconds later, I take the fall damage that I should have taken in step #1

5. 30-45 seconds after step #4, my character begins the swimming animation (sometimes taking damage due to being halfway inside the grass?)

6. Between 1-2 minutes (sometimes longer!) my character stands back up and briefly experiences the "soul speed POV visual" of zooming out, before going back to a regular POV 

   1. Still unable to access the chest throughout this entire time

7. 1-2 minutes after step #6, I'm (finally) able to interact with the chest

   1. If I wish to walk 3-4 blocks away and attempt to interact with another item, say another chest or use a crafting table, this will take an additional 1-2 minutes (or longer) before I'm able to interact with it.

This situation has only occurred to us in the Overworld. I've not experienced this in the nether, however I've not tried to replicate this in the End.

Edit: I've now been waiting to harvest honey for over 15 minutes, so the above-listed times are estimates on the short-end of the spectrum.