Hello JR ...

I don't really know how much water you want to move and how often ... clearly with option 1 sounds like you will have a small river moving through the yard when it rains heavy ... option 2 should be much neater in moving the water ... not 100 % clear what you mean by a "swell" ... seems like there could be some erosion that may take place here unless it is made of concrete ect ...

Both options are often used in conjuction with each other ...

Good Day ...

I would go with the swale because there will be little or no maintenance and any problems would be immediately visible and easy to correct. Also, the capacity would be much greater than an underground 4" pipe.

install drains that will handle the 100 year storm, its 4.75 inchs per hour in savannah ga, not sure for your area, probobly more. I have 5- 30'' basins with multiple inlets for down spout tie inn and 6'' PVC outlets piped down the hill.
My system handles entire roof, 5 down spouts,and 4000 sq feet of ground surface no prob.

Hi JR,

It may be a little late for this, but take a look here.

http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/yard_drainage.htm

Good luck,
Newt

My two cents is a swale as it is what I used. I have installed drainage at other places but for my issue, which was similar to what you describe, a cost benefit analysis indicated, for me, that bringing in a load of topsoil, fashioning a swale and seeding it was cheaper and less intrusive to my yard than trenching and buying/installing catch basins and drainage pipe. With the added benefit knowing at a glance if it was working.

In my situation I have very little topography in my favor, though the road is downhill slightly from my home, any catch basins and drainpipe would have had to be below the grade of the road to function even marginally.

I understand your situation, yes, the top soil is a good remedy, just keep your backfill managed and you should be fine.