Swanepoel was born in Sasolburg, but grew up in Cape Town. He was selected to represent at the premier high schoolsrugby union tournament in South Africa, the Under-18 Craven Week, held in Kimberley in 2011. After high school, he joined the Western Province Academy and made seven appearances for their Under-19 team in the 2012 Under-19 Provincial Championship. However, he missed out on the title play-offs, which saw his side crowned champions by beating the team 22–18 in Durban. He made nine appearances for their Under-21 team that finished top of the 2013 Under-21 Provincial Championship to qualify for the semi-finals. This time, Swanepoel did play in the play-off matches, starting their 44–41 victory over the Golden Lions in the semi-final and their 30–23 victory over the Blue Bulls in the final. At the start of the following year, Swanepoel was included in the squad for the 2014 Vodacom Cup. He made his first class debut in their opening match of the competition against near-neighbours in a 16–8 victory. He made a further four starts during the regular season, helping Western Province to finish in fourth position in the Southern Section. He also started in their quarter final match, where a 13–8 defeat to the ended their interest in the competition. He started in Western Province U21s' opening match of the 2014 Under-21 Provincial Championship, but suffered a knee injury that ruled him out of the remainder of 2014. He returned to action for Western Province during the 2015 Vodacom Cup competition, making two appearances; he started their 34–6 victory over the and came on as a replacement in their 47–22 win over a. He was named in their senior squad for the 2015 Currie Cup Premier Division, but failed to make any appearances. He was loaned to the, where he made his Currie Cup debut by coming on as a replacement in their 17–61 defeat to the in Potchefstroom, his only appearance in the competition.
Blue Bulls
In August 2015, the announced that they secured Swanepoel's services until October 2017. He made his debut for them in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series by starting in their 16–30 defeat to his former side, Western Province, making a total of ten appearances in the competition. He was then named in their squad for the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division.
Swanepoel joined FrenchTop 14 side Stade Français at the start of 2017.
Southern Kings
He returned to South Africa to join the for their first season in the expanded Pro14 competition. He was used as a replacement in their first two matches of the season against and, but suffered a concussion that ruled him out for their next two matches. After a further two appearances as a replacement against the and, he suffered a knee injury that ruled him out for six weeks, but he failed to make any further appearances during the season. He made a single appearance for the on loan from the Kings in the domestic Rugby Challenge competition, starting their opening match of the competition against.
In July 2018, Italian side Valsugana announced that Swanepoel would join them for their inaugural season in the Top12 following promotion from Serie A. The following season, Swanepoel signed a one-year contract with the other team from Padova, Petrarca. After the premature cancellation of the championship amidst the COVID-19 emergency, on April 30, 2020 he was subsequently drafted by Rugby Rovigo Delta for the incoming season
