Although he never received a single medal in any international tournament, Svanidze was regarded as one of Ukraine's top swimmers in the post-independence era since the break-up of the Soviet Union.

He later became a pupil and a member of the swimming team for Ukraïna Zaporizhzhia, one of Ukraine's top sports clubs, under his longtime coach and mentor Ivan Proskura.

[1] In 1995, Svanidze made his worldwide breakthrough at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he placed fifth in a freestyle double (100 and 200 m).

In the 100 m freestyle, he powered home with a fourteenth-place effort in the B-Final at 50.43, edging out Canada's Stephen Clarke in a close finish by two-hundredths of a second (0.02).

Svanidze swam the second leg in heat three and recorded a split of 51.69, but the Ukrainians finished the race in fourth place and twelfth overall with a final time of 3:21.48.

[10] Two days later, Svanidze, along with Goncharenko, Ihor Snitko, and Serhiy Fesenko, placed fourteenth in the 4×200 m freestyle relay with a time of 7:32.16.

[1] On October 14, 2002, at age 30, Svanidze was found unconscious inside the gymnasium at Zaporizhia State Medical University after having suffered a cardiac arrest.