Richards struggled from the field with broken ribs and a punctured lung after a marking contest against Carlton in round 16 at Etihad Stadium.
He spent several days in hospital recovering before travelling back to Sydney by rail - flying was out of the question - to continue his convalescence.
The athletic defender rejoined the main group for training late in the season before heading to Europe to clear his head.
“My older brother is doing his MBA over in Stockholm so it was a perfect opportunity to go to Sweden and stay with him for a while,” Richards said.
“It was great to see him but it was also a bit funny to go for a jog over there when the temperature was four degrees and you had to rug up to go for a run.
“The season didn’t finish off how I wanted it to, so it gave me a bit of thinking time and I’ve been able to really set myself for this pre-season.”
Richards, who turns 27 in January, said he was feeling no ill effects from the serious injuries that brought his 2009 season to an end.
While the true test will come when the Swans hit the practice match circuit in February, he was confident there would be no further issues.
“That will be determined in the practice games when I’m getting repeated knocks on it. But right now, I don’t think it’s affecting me at all,” Richards said.
“I’ve had quite a few knocks on it and I’m involved in tackle drills and that sort of thing. I’m not feeling any soreness so it looks like it’s all healed up 100 per cent.”
The Swans have had a heavy focus on running in the early stages of their pre-season and Richards said the players had embraced the physical and mental challenges.
“It’s part of the job description for a footballer at this time of year and we all understand that you do pre-season to get yourself as fit as you can,” he said.
“We knew that it wasn’t going to be for the whole of pre-season; the full-on running was just for that two-week window. Everyone knew that this was the plan and to push ourselves as hard as we could.
“It’s been good because you can really see the results in the tests that the guys have been doing. It’s also been good for the young guys to really get some kilometres into them early.”
Now embarking on his ninth pre-season as an AFL footballer, Richards is among the elder statesmen of an increasingly youthful Swans squad.
He admitted his new status had come as something of a shock when he returned to the track.
“I still can’t quite get over the fact that these guys, who I’ve become accustomed to being there each year, are now no longer there,” he said.
“All of a sudden, I’m finding myself as one of the older guys when we split off into groups and I have tried to set myself to take more leadership responsibilities.”
But he laughed off the suggestion that he might be referred to as ‘Grandpa Ted’ in the near future.
“As long as Brett Kirk’s still around, I’m a long way off that category,” Richards said.
“I don’t think I can fit into the grandpa category when I still can’t grow any facial hair. We’ve got 18 year olds who can grow more facial hair than me.”
