He also competed in the senior scratch race in 2005, demonstrating his ability by finishing third to take the bronze medal.

He made his professional road debut in August 2007 joining Barloworld as a trainee during which time he won the King of the Mountains title in the Tour of Britain.

He took his first professional win on the seventh stage of the Tour of Britain, leading Katusha teammate Filippo Pozzato in a one-two finish.

On 4 April, Swift won the Scratch Race at the World Championships to take the rainbow jersey.

[14] Although he failed to gain selection from the long list for the British Olympic team, he was picked for the Team Sky squad for the Tour de Pologne, winning the second and fifth stages, as well as wearing that Tour's red-and-white points classification jersey[15] Swift was selected as Sky's sprinter at the 2012 Vuelta a España, and finished second on Stage 18.

[16] In April 2015, Swift crashed out of the newly created Tour de Yorkshire, injuring his shoulder.

[18] After seven seasons with Sky, in September 2016 Swift announced that he would join UAE Abu Dhabi on a two-year deal from 2017 in order to seek more opportunities to ride for himself.

[20] In June 2019, Swift won the British National Road Race Championships in Norwich, beating team leader Ian Stannard.