diff --git a/internal/rds/cloudwatch.go b/internal/rds/cloudwatch.go
index f50e289..b4b0850 100644
--- a/internal/rds/cloudwatch.go
+++ b/internal/rds/cloudwatch.go
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ type MetricStats struct {
 	TotalConns     float64
 	HasData        bool
 	DatapointCount int
+	// WO-16: SwapUsed is true if the instance measurably used swap during the
+	// window — a memory-pressure countersignal against flagging OVERSIZED_INSTANCE
+	// on low CPU alone, regardless of instance class.
+	SwapUsed bool
 }
 
 // WO-7: enables tag-based exclusion in rds/scanner.go.
@@ -76,6 +80,24 @@ func FetchInstanceMetrics(ctx context.Context, cw CloudWatchAPI, instanceID stri
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	// WO-16: fetch swap usage as a memory-pressure countersignal for the
+	// oversized-instance check; any measurable swap activity means the
+	// instance is memory-bound regardless of how low its CPU looks.
+	swapOut, err := cw.GetMetricStatistics(ctx, &cloudwatch.GetMetricStatisticsInput{
+		Namespace:  aws.String("AWS/RDS"),
+		MetricName: aws.String("SwapUsage"),
+		Dimensions: []cwtypes.Dimension{
+			{Name: aws.String("DBInstanceIdentifier"), Value: aws.String(instanceID)},
+		},
+		StartTime:  aws.Time(start),
+		EndTime:    aws.Time(now),
+		Period:     aws.Int32(period),
+		Statistics: []cwtypes.Statistic{cwtypes.StatisticMaximum},
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	stats := &MetricStats{}
 
 	if len(cpuOut.Datapoints) > 0 {
@@ -100,5 +122,14 @@ func FetchInstanceMetrics(ctx context.Context, cw CloudWatchAPI, instanceID stri
 		}
 	}
 
+	// WO-16: any measurable swap usage during the window is a memory-pressure
+	// countersignal, independent of instance class.
+	for _, dp := range swapOut.Datapoints {
+		if dp.Maximum != nil && *dp.Maximum > 0 {
+			stats.SwapUsed = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+
 	return stats, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/rds/cloudwatch_test.go b/internal/rds/cloudwatch_test.go
index 33ac135..fb07a51 100644
--- a/internal/rds/cloudwatch_test.go
+++ b/internal/rds/cloudwatch_test.go
@@ -122,3 +122,50 @@ func TestFetchInstanceMetricsMaxCPU(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("AvgCPU = %.1f, want ~%.1f", stats.AvgCPU, expectedAvg)
 	}
 }
+
+// WO-16: no SwapUsage datapoints (or all zero) means SwapUsed is false.
+func TestFetchInstanceMetricsNoSwap(t *testing.T) {
+	cw := newMockCWClient()
+	cw.metrics["CPUUtilization"] = makeCPUDatapoints(8.0, 15.0, 14)
+	cw.metrics["DatabaseConnections"] = makeConnDatapoints(50)
+	cw.metrics["SwapUsage"] = makeSwapDatapoints(0)
+
+	stats, err := FetchInstanceMetrics(context.Background(), cw, "mydb", now, 14)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if stats.SwapUsed {
+		t.Error("SwapUsed = true, want false when swap datapoints are all zero")
+	}
+}
+
+// WO-16: any measurable swap datapoint sets SwapUsed.
+func TestFetchInstanceMetricsSwapDetected(t *testing.T) {
+	cw := newMockCWClient()
+	cw.metrics["CPUUtilization"] = makeCPUDatapoints(8.0, 15.0, 14)
+	cw.metrics["DatabaseConnections"] = makeConnDatapoints(50)
+	cw.metrics["SwapUsage"] = makeSwapDatapoints(2048)
+
+	stats, err := FetchInstanceMetrics(context.Background(), cw, "mydb", now, 14)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !stats.SwapUsed {
+		t.Error("SwapUsed = false, want true when a nonzero swap datapoint is present")
+	}
+}
+
+// WO-16: absent SwapUsage metric (no datapoints at all) defaults to false, unchanged behavior.
+func TestFetchInstanceMetricsNoSwapMetric(t *testing.T) {
+	cw := newMockCWClient()
+	cw.metrics["CPUUtilization"] = makeCPUDatapoints(8.0, 15.0, 14)
+	cw.metrics["DatabaseConnections"] = makeConnDatapoints(50)
+
+	stats, err := FetchInstanceMetrics(context.Background(), cw, "mydb", now, 14)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if stats.SwapUsed {
+		t.Error("SwapUsed = true, want false when no SwapUsage metric is returned at all")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/rds/mock_test.go b/internal/rds/mock_test.go
index c472fde..44a259c 100644
--- a/internal/rds/mock_test.go
+++ b/internal/rds/mock_test.go
@@ -164,3 +164,13 @@ func makeConnDatapoints(totalConns float64) *cloudwatch.GetMetricStatisticsOutpu
 		},
 	}
 }
+
+// WO-16: swap-usage datapoints for the oversized-instance memory-pressure countersignal.
+func makeSwapDatapoints(maxBytes float64) *cloudwatch.GetMetricStatisticsOutput {
+	mx := maxBytes
+	return &cloudwatch.GetMetricStatisticsOutput{
+		Datapoints: []cwtypes.Datapoint{
+			{Maximum: &mx},
+		},
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/rds/scanner.go b/internal/rds/scanner.go
index 7a8ac82..8919777 100644
--- a/internal/rds/scanner.go
+++ b/internal/rds/scanner.go
@@ -213,8 +213,11 @@ func (s *RDSScanner) analyzeInstance(ctx context.Context, cfg database.ScanConfi
 						"engine":         inst.Engine,
 					},
 				})
-			} else if metrics.MaxCPU < cfg.CPUThreshold && metrics.TotalConns > 0 {
-				// Oversized check: max CPU < threshold but has connections (active, just oversized)
+				// WO-16: oversized check requires max CPU < threshold AND no
+				// measurable swap activity — swap usage means the instance is
+				// memory-bound despite low CPU, so downsizing on CPU alone
+				// would be unsafe regardless of instance class.
+			} else if metrics.MaxCPU < cfg.CPUThreshold && metrics.TotalConns > 0 && !metrics.SwapUsed {
 				findings = append(findings, database.Finding{
 					ID:                    database.FindingOversizedInstance,
 					Severity:              database.SeverityHigh,
diff --git a/internal/rds/scanner_test.go b/internal/rds/scanner_test.go
index 1a5388f..2c8f0a1 100644
--- a/internal/rds/scanner_test.go
+++ b/internal/rds/scanner_test.go
@@ -266,6 +266,47 @@ func TestScanOversizedInstance(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// WO-16: low CPU alone still flags oversized when no swap activity was measured.
+func TestScanOversizedInstanceNoSwap(t *testing.T) {
+	mock := newMockRDSClient()
+	mock.instances = []rdstypes.DBInstance{
+		makeInstance("big-db", "db.r5.xlarge", "postgres", "17.2"),
+	}
+	cw := newMockCWClient()
+	cw.metrics["CPUUtilization"] = makeCPUDatapoints(8.0, 15.0, 14)
+	cw.metrics["DatabaseConnections"] = makeConnDatapoints(50)
+	cw.metrics["SwapUsage"] = makeSwapDatapoints(0)
+
+	s := newTestScanner(mock, cw)
+	result := s.Scan(context.Background(), defaultCfg(), nil)
+
+	findings := findByID(result.Findings, database.FindingOversizedInstance)
+	if len(findings) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 OVERSIZED_INSTANCE with zero swap, got %d", len(findings))
+	}
+}
+
+// WO-16: measurable swap usage suppresses OVERSIZED_INSTANCE even with low CPU,
+// since it signals memory pressure the CPU metric alone can't see.
+func TestScanOversizedInstanceSuppressedBySwap(t *testing.T) {
+	mock := newMockRDSClient()
+	mock.instances = []rdstypes.DBInstance{
+		makeInstance("swapping-db", "db.r5.xlarge", "postgres", "17.2"),
+	}
+	cw := newMockCWClient()
+	cw.metrics["CPUUtilization"] = makeCPUDatapoints(8.0, 15.0, 14)
+	cw.metrics["DatabaseConnections"] = makeConnDatapoints(50)
+	cw.metrics["SwapUsage"] = makeSwapDatapoints(1048576) // 1 MiB of swap observed
+
+	s := newTestScanner(mock, cw)
+	result := s.Scan(context.Background(), defaultCfg(), nil)
+
+	findings := findByID(result.Findings, database.FindingOversizedInstance)
+	if len(findings) != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 0 OVERSIZED_INSTANCE when swap was used, got %d", len(findings))
+	}
+}
+
 func TestScanActiveInstanceNotFlagged(t *testing.T) {
 	mock := newMockRDSClient()
 	mock.instances = []rdstypes.DBInstance{