Can one of the swipe actuons be to collapse the thread?
As a matter of personal preference I am a fan of a quick tap or a swipe to collapse. I don't enjoy the long hold to collapse/un-collapse.
You can change it to collapse with just a tap in Settings > Comment Options > Single click to hide comment
Here's the setting in question
Settings shortcut: Comment options > Single click to hide comment
You can set single tap to collapse, but it makes long press required to open the rest of the actions
That's what I've done. It works, but I keep forgetting that it's there.