David Swift was born in Eastbourne and moved to Devon at the age of ten , where he went to school in Torquay . He was a student of rugby and athletics, among other things, and focused on the latter during his three-year sports science studies at the University of Bath . Towards the end of his studies, he was invited to test drives by the British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association and finally accepted into a sponsorship group, so that he gained his first racing experience in 2006.
In the 2007/08 season Swift made his debut in the European Cup with a 24th place in Igls . After finishing 5th and 6th at his next starts, he took part in three races in the Intercontinental Cup and was twice in the top ten. At the Junior World Championships in Igls in 2008, he won silver behind Alexander Tretyakov and ahead of Alexander Gassner . At the end of the season he started in the last two races of the season in the America's Cup and finished tenth and seventh. The following winter Swift started exclusively in the Intercontinental Cup and was able to celebrate his first podium finish with a second place in the penultimate race in Igls. He finished seventh in the overall standings. In winter 2009/10 he took part in five of the eight Intercontinental -Saisonrennen part, reached as the best placements two fourth places in Winterberg and was a total of 14. A year later he started again throughout the Intercontinental and, after results from rank 9 and 16 in the final Tenth.
The winter of 2011/12 was more successful for David Swift. For the first time he was able to achieve single-digit placings in the Intercontinental Cup, was third twice in Sigulda and was fifth overall. He also started four races in the European Cup and finished third there in Igls. In November 2012, Swift made his World Cup debut with a 25th place in Lake Placid . After four races with 15th place in Park City as the best place, he returned to the Intercontinental Cup in Whistler . Swift achieved his only single-digit placement of the winter with a fourth place in Winterberg and was twelfth overall. In 2013/14 he was again in action in the Intercontinental Cup. He was able to finish in the top ten in five of the eight races of the season, finished eighth in the overall standings and started again in a World Cup race, which he finished in 27th and last place. At the same time held European championship he was 19th. Also in 2014/15 David Swift started in the Intercontinental Cup . Due to his constant participation and with placements between 4th and 16th place, he was able to win the overall standings without being on the podium in a race. He then started the World Cup race in Igls and finished seventh there. At the 2015 Skeleton World Championship in Winterberg, he missed the final run as 22nd after three runs. In 2015/16 he initially took part in World Cup and Intercontinental Cup races and won a European Cup race for the first time in St. Moritz in January 2016 .